The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

14 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 28, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Book recommended for super good day By Gail Poskitt Grade 12, MacLachlan College Before I start to tell you about anything else that has happened to me recently, I`ve got to tell you about the most unusual book I read recently by Mark Haddon called, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime. Quite honestly this is one book I could not put down even if you paid me. I was reading it before I went to sleep, while I was brushing my teeth, during calculus, and it actually cut into my daily routine. I was very suspicious of the title but it proved to be a convincing novel about a gifted boy with unusual traits who tries to solve a peculiar, and I mean peculiar, murder. This story proves to not be a typical murder mystery where the victim is a person, but instead the victim is a poodle, speared viciously in the stomach by a harmless garden fork. The unusual but gifted protagonist, Christopher, is really unique and quirky partly because of his mental illness, Asperger's Syndrome, or as we know it, autism. Although his illness is not explicitly mentioned throughout the book, I knew of it by reading the small blurb at the back of the book, like I always do. The style of witty narration, change of font sizes and style, and the endless amount of run-on sentences surprisingly invited me into the mind of a child with autistic behavior. I was able to connect to Christopher, mainly through his voice recording of his experiences. How do I know that I was really in the mind of an autistic child? By reading intensely for the last couple days I was able to build my own perception and sympathize with Christopher's odd behavior and puzzling way of thinking. This story was unexpected and full of surprises. In the beginning Christopher insists that, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them." Ironically in many parts of the novel there are a number of lines which are very humorous even though his mood as a character and narrator always remains serious. Another scene in the book that remains in my mind is when Christopher explains that he bases the outcome of his day on the colour of cars he sees such as three red cars in a row made it a quite a good day, four red cars in a row made it a good day, and five red cars in a row made it a super good day.... and so on. The more I read on I saw Christopher as a clever, charming boy with a perceptive way of thinking, who I'd enjoy getting to know. From the first page the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time presents itself as a startling murder mystery and, as far-fetched as it is, I surprisingly kept on reading because I really wanted to find out who killed the poodle. Honestly this book had so many little drawings by Christopher it seemed like a novel fit for a "tween", but as far as I know my older sister and dad enjoyed it. Look for this book at your local book store because it is an impressive read you will never forget. I'll be surprised if you don't love this book.