Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Gifts
Review: In Swindon, the schoolboy Christopher Boone discovers that Mrs Shears's dog Wellington has been killed - run through with a garden fork. Christopher is at first blamed for the deed, but then decides to track down the dog's true killer. Christopher has Asperger's Syndrome: he's brilliant at mathematics and physics, but is a handful for both his father and his teachers. As Christopher's investigation proceeds, he unearths truths about his family and embarks on a voyage of discovery about the world and people outside of home and school.The main attraction of this novel is seeing the world through Christopher's eyes: it appears to be disturbingly puzzling and yet at times absurdly amusing. I've no real experience of people with Asperger's Syndrome, but if Haddon's writing is true to life it appears that their existence can be lived at extremes: Christopher is superbly gifted yet he has great emotional difficulties just coping with everyday events. It is as if he sees the world too logically, in too much detail. Whilst the book has several "mysteries" running in parallel, its charm and interest is in the way that Haddon builds up Christopher's character and the empathy he evokes for him. Essentially an engaging and enjoyable read (apart from the maths problems, which were way beyond me!). G Rodgers
Rating:
Summary: A Triumphant Journey!
Review: I absolutely loved this novel, it gives insight into the minds of people who are not often acknowledged in our society as individuals. It is the journey of a boy to find the truth, but what is most realistic for me is that he's not motivated by what are deemed "normal" motivating factors, instead, Mark Haddon delves deep into the mind of this boy and returns with a captivating and moving story. Definitely read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: 5 gold stars means it's going to be a Super Good Book
Review: I bought this book because I liked its cover. I liked its cover because it was red, which is my favorite color, and also it had a picture of a dog and I like dogs, but I do not like dogs to be murdered, which is what happens to a dog at the start of this book. I do not like proper novels, because proper novels contain lies, but I like this book because it is not like a proper novel, but more like a book of maths or science, because it does not contain lies but contains the truth. I give this book 5 stars because it is a Super Good Book, but also because 5 is a prime number and I like prime numbers.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmm
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I went into it not quite sure what I was coming into. The author did a great job narrating the facts of autism. I was intrigued by the characters more than the story, but still enojoyed the read.
Rating:
Summary: Unique voice
Review: Narrated by the unique voice of an autistic teenager, the book recounts his life - from his investigation into who killed the neighbor's dog Wellington, his efforts to pass math A-levels, and his observations about life and his parents relations, all the time providing a compassionate look at the both incredible and sad functioning of an autistic mind. The middle of the book, as Christopher journeys to his mother in London, gets boring, but overall it's a good read and a unique voice.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding comes when you've walked in his shoes
Review: Having an autistic step-brother, I eagerly anticipated reading Haddon's book with the expectation of becoming more enlightened about his withdrawn world. I was not disappointed. The relationships between parents and children, the ways they must live in order to cope, tugged at my heart. I have been in similar situations, and it affirmed my reactions and the consequences. Some people avoid special needs people for a variety of reasons, but this book opens up the question, "Are special needs people just like you and me, who indeed need a bit more patience, understanding, and focus?" I appreciate being given this glimpse inside the heart of a boy with special needs, but I would have thoroughly enjoyed it if the profanity had been left out, or at least minimized.
Rating:
Summary: through the looking glass.........
Review: I thought this was an amazing book. Not since The Lovely Bones, have I been drawn so completely into the mind and world of another character.
What I loved about this book, was that the author made no judgements of any of the characters, but simply allowed the drama to play itself out.
I've had the honor and pleasure of working with autistic children, and what I learned, and I think what the author is successful in showing, is that there may be some differences in how autistic people deal with the world, but that we all have unique coping skills, and theirs are perhaps extreme, but maybe not as unusual as we would like to think..
Take a chance - if you are an adventurous person when it comes to books, I don't think you will regret this journey!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book. My son has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism, and I had heard several recommendations for this book. I thought that the author's character portrayal of an autistic child was well-developed, and the story line itself was interesting, but all of this was outweighed by the incredible amount of profanity and cursing that took place in the dialogue. I was hoping that this book would not only be one that I would enjoy, but one that I could share with my children. Not so.
Rating:
Summary: A revelation into autism
Review: As the parent of a child with Asperger's, this book was nothing short of a revelation to me. Though Haddon is not a psychologist his experience with autistic children obviously led him to have incredibly perceptive insight into what goes on in the mind of an autistic person. I can't count the number of times that I read certain thoughts or observations of the main character and thought to myself "This all makes sense to me now!" It was just unbelievable. The writing by itself was well-crafted and creatively done, and it lends tremendously to the way in which the story is told from the perspective of this boy. I also thought that Haddon did a good job in expressing what it can be like for a parent of an autistic person and the stress and frustration that comes from trying to raise a person who lives under a different understanding of life than the rest of us. I read this book in one sitting and have recommended it to all my family and friends as a way to get some insight into how an autistic person meets reality.
Rating:
Summary: CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER
Review: this book is GREAT! it brings you to a whole new style of writing and reading. i REALLY enjoyed the book and i know you will too!!
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