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ashleysilver7 's review for:
House Rules
by Jodi Picoult
This book, written in 2010, feels very relevant to this day. Jacob, the story's protagonist, is 18 years old and has Asperger's, which is (simply put) high functioning autism. I love hearing from Jacob's point of view, especially when he states early in the book that Asperger's is "the mental health disorder du jour" (he has a point, in my opinion) and that it's "overused by parents to explain their bratty kids." (P. 17)
At any rate, Jacob has a medical condition that often looks like guilt, if that person is unfortunate enough to be charged with murder. Put simply, he sees things extremely black and white, and cannot (at least finds it hard) to see things from another's point of view. Jacob is accused of killing Jess Ogilvy, a 23 year old graduate student, who is also his "social skills" tutor.
What frustrates me as a reader is that Jacob isn't 100% allowed to tell his story...it seems fairly simple to me what happened, and maybe that's because, as a teacher, I'm fairly familiar with students on the Autistic spectrum....That being said, the story is written from five people's view points, but Jacob is the main character, and as Picoult herself states, this is essentially his story. However, we are fortunate enough to also hear from Emma (mom), Theo (younger brother, "neuro-typical"), Oliver (defense lawyer), and Rich (detective).
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and think hearing from people on the spectrum (and learning empathy) is very important in today's world where Autism is so common. I wonder if Picoult truly believes, as does Emma (Jacob's mom) that vaccines cause Autism...
At any rate, Jacob has a medical condition that often looks like guilt, if that person is unfortunate enough to be charged with murder. Put simply, he sees things extremely black and white, and cannot (at least finds it hard) to see things from another's point of view. Jacob is accused of killing Jess Ogilvy, a 23 year old graduate student, who is also his "social skills" tutor.
What frustrates me as a reader is that Jacob isn't 100% allowed to tell his story...it seems fairly simple to me what happened, and maybe that's because, as a teacher, I'm fairly familiar with students on the Autistic spectrum....That being said, the story is written from five people's view points, but Jacob is the main character, and as Picoult herself states, this is essentially his story. However, we are fortunate enough to also hear from Emma (mom), Theo (younger brother, "neuro-typical"), Oliver (defense lawyer), and Rich (detective).
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and think hearing from people on the spectrum (and learning empathy) is very important in today's world where Autism is so common. I wonder if Picoult truly believes, as does Emma (Jacob's mom) that vaccines cause Autism...