Author:  Jodi Picoult
Title:  House Rules
Publisher:  Atria

What would it be like to be different? REALLY different? What if that "different" person were your son? Your brother? The suspect in a murder case you're investigating? Jodi Picoult tackles all that and more in House Rules.

The story revolves around Jacob, a high school senior with Asperger's syndrome. Brilliant but socially-incompetent, Jacob is fixated on forensic science. He sets up mock murder scenes in his living room. He processes fingerprints in his bedroom. If he doesn't get to watch his favorite crime show every day, he has a meltdown—and if you think a toddler pitching a screaming fit is painful to watch, imagine a six-foot teenager doing the same thing.

All this is naturally very hard on Jacob's mom, who opens the book. She's given up everything to make Jacob's life as comfortable and normal as possible—which means her own life is anything but. Ditto Jacob's younger brother, Theo, who gets to tell his side of the story, too. (Before it's over, we'll also hear from a policeman, a lawyer, and Jacob himself.)

Jacob lives in a world he just can't understand. Thanks to Asperger's he doesn't pick up on social cues. He takes everything literally. And as much as Jacob wants to fit in with those around him, he can't figure out how. Going inside Jacob's brilliant but off-kilter head is a highlight of the book.

The genius of Picoult's writing is that each of her characters is so different and so believable. When Jacob explains the way he sees the world, the odd things he does seem totally logical. Unfortunately, he can only explain these things to the reader, not those around him. That's a problem, particularly when he finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. Not, unfortunately, as part of the forensic team, but as the chief suspect. Many of Jacob's typical Asperger's behaviors look a lot like guilt to the cops, and even his family is afraid he might have killed for reasons that made sense only to Jacob.

If there's a flaw in House Rules, I'd say it was the solution of the "mystery." I saw it coming from early on and kept expecting a plot twist that never came. However, in this case the "case" isn't the focus of the book. Instead, it's more about relationships, the treatment of those who are "other," and how family dynamics can change through crisis. Communication is the key; while Jacob's communication skills are uniquely challenged, the "normal" people in the story have almost as much trouble getting through to each other.

The "house rules" of the title are Jacob and Theo's personal code of honor, set up by their mother in an attempt to make their family work. Each boy, in his own way, plays by those rules and nearly destroys the other in the process. But in the end, the house wins—and so does the reader.


**This review first published on April 6, 2010.