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Book Review:House Rules by Jodi Picoult

The book hit a little to close to home for me and was a tough read because of that. 2 brothers, oldest w autism, 3yrs apart, told from both their perspectives and others like their mom. It was the typical brother that was hardest for me to digest the words of because the child said things that are my worst fears that Cooper will feel one day, and odds are at one point he will.

This quote by the mom rings so true for me. (Theo is the typical younger brother)
"An ordinary mother doesn't lie awake at night wondering if Theo will ever accept his brother enough to watch over him when I'm gone."
It just wraps up a lot of my thoughts when I look ahead. I was touched by one small snip in the book talking of twin boys, 1 had severe autism and the other did not. The typical brother was asked why he didn't mind taking care of his special needs brother and wasn't bothered by having him as is brother. His response was "because it could of easily been me". It's a perspective I hope Cooper and other kids around Parker will have.

I'm getting off track here and not saying much of what the book is about. There is a family with a mom and her 2 teenage boys, one with aspergers. The boy with aspergers is accused of murder. The book follows the trial. Interesting to me was how the author coorelated some of the features of autism and how that affects the perception of the accused by the police and so forth. She touches on the obession, sensory issues, rigidness. I do think she takes some of it a bit far in her betrayal, but that is of course just based against my own personal experience and those around me.

It was a good fairly interesting book but doesn't even register near a Picoult favorite for me. It was worth my time.