The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Hadden

A painfully sweet novel from the perspective of an autistic boy. It was painful to see his interactions with the world, and sweet because he reacted to situations in much the same way that my six year old would.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

Our book group discussed this book and I was surprised that several people justified the father's lie, since it resulted in the son's growth (i.e., would he have ever taken the train by himself otherwise?). I don't know about that.

I struggled with my feelings of compassion toward the mother: we always hear of these saintly women who mother special needs children. But I doubt I would be one of them. I would be the one embarrassed by the very public breakdown in the department store.