Just recently I read a YA book. The book was recommended to me by a friend at the book club, along with the words “see if you can read it with out putting it down; you’ll be hooked!”

Now, YA (Young Adult) books are not my usual genre of reading. I have not read any of The Hunger Games, or the Divergent series, and Twilight left me a tad cold.

This book was entirely different. For a start,  the story is from the viewpoint of the main character Christopher, who is a 15 year old autistic teenager (with Asperger’s Syndrome, to be precise), with a naturally different viewpoint of the world from the rest of us.

“It takes me a long time to get used to people I do not know. For example, when there is a new member of staff at the school I do not talk to them for weeks and weeks. 

I just watch them until I know that they are safe. I ask them questions about themselves, like whether they have pets and what is their favorite color ….I get them to draw a plan of their house and ask them what car they drive, so I get to know them. 

Then I don’t mind if I am in the same room as them…”

Christopher struggles with social and behavioral issues, but the story lends itself to a heartwarming tale as he tries to find the mystery of the murder of a neighbor’s dog.

It was entertaining, charming and insightful, and I could not put it down. 4/5 🙂