House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Genre:  General Fiction
Copyright: March 2010
Pages: 530
Book Source:  ARC courtesy of Allen & Unwin

HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right.

But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

House Rules is yet another hard-hitting Jodi Picoult novel that delves into the allowances or concessions that need to be made for people not only with disabilities but those with communication and social differences who are thrust into the complexities of the US Justice System. While it's not my all-time favourite Jodi Picoult novel, it still managed to grab me by turning the spotlight on a little-known yet completely engrossing issue of Asperger's Syndrome. The alternating points of view has become Jodi Picoult's literary signature and I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel as once again it lent a unique perspective to all sides of the issue and gave me a more intimate understanding of where each character was coming from.

One of the most powerful aspects of this novel is that it gives a voice to Jacob, the novel's central character who has Asperger's Syndrome. Being able to view the world through Jacob's eyes in these chapters, allowed me to really step into his brilliant but oddly 'wired' mind. This is one of those stories, like many of Jodi Picoult's novels, that truly allow people to walk a mile in somebody else's shoes and maybe if more of us did that, the world would be a better place.

Jodi Picoult has a gift for seeing right to the heart of the matter, even if the heart of the matter is difficult, painful or unconventional. The struggles of a single mother parenting a special needs son, the forgotten sibling who voices the socially-unacceptable thoughts that we all have from time to time, revisiting the immunisation debate, the judgements many of us make on those who are different.

Sometimes I think the human heart is just a simple shelf. There's only so much you can pile onto it before something falls off an edge and you are left to pick up the pieces.

There were a few things about this book that stopped it from being a 5 star read for me, the main one being the ending. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it just didn't do it for me, the ending was left suspended so you had to draw your own conclusions. I worked out the direction the story was taking early in the novel which in itself didn't detract from my enjoyment but when linked with the "Clayton's ending" did leave me a little disappointed. And, despite all the repetitiveness from witnesses and lawyers, I found it frustrating that nobody asked Jacob the most pertinent question, what happened?

All up; eloquent, emotive and well researched, House Rules was definitely worth the read.




To find out more about one of my favourite authors visit Jodi Picoult's website. Picoult's next novel SING YOU HOME, is due for release in March 2011. SING YOU HOME explores what it means to be gay in today’s world, and how reproductive science has outstripped the legal system.

Thanks to Jess from Allen & Unwin for my copy of House Rules, Jess you made my day!