I was recently invited to join a book club here in Alaska.  I have always wanted to be in a book club.  There is something lovely about gathering together with an eclectic group of ladies to talk about books.  What we liked, what we didn’t, what made us laugh, what made us cry; the string of conversations a good (or bad) book can bring on!  Eeek!  I’m all fuzzy inside just thinking about it.  Well this little group of sexy nerds just finished up our first book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Matt Haddon.  It was a good book to start off with!

my friend Emily, who started the book club, bought a t-shirt that said this & I think it’s great!

The story is written from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy with autism. My first thoughts about this book once finished was how beautifully and carefully written it was. I don’t know what goes on in the mind of a teenage, autistic boy, however I felt like perhaps I just got a glimpse. The simple, yet profound logic, the details most easily miss, and how this young boy processes emotion fascinated me.

The story goes that a neighbors dog is killed and Christopher decides to solve the dogs murder by doing his own ‘detecting’. In the process, he uncovers some difficult family truths that he has to work through. Just writing the idea of the story sounds simple yet the trail Christopher takes you on reveals the difficulty in navigating through hurt, pain, mistrust; his emotions.

It wasn’t a perfect story with an all ends well kind of ending. There were difficult moments that tugged at your heart. However it’s honest and it left me with a glimmer of hope.

And with hope, anything is possible!