I have to confess to being a closet Jodi Picoult fan. I am as much surprised as you! She caught me unawares one night after downloading a sample chapter on my iPhone. I blame the time of the night, I blame my daughter for not sleeping, I blame the Picoult for being able to convert me with a single chapter. Picoult writes books that do indeed draw the reader in right from chapter one. House Rules is the second book of hers that I have read and both books kept me up all night reading them.

House Rules tells the story of an Autistic boy (actually Aspergers Syndrome) fascinated with crime scenes. It tells the story of police brutality due to refusal to allow for needs due to this disorder. It tells the story of a family torn apart by a young man who cannot help but behave the way he does.

If I have one complaint about her writing it is the way she finishes her books. They never wrap up the parts of the story that she has taught you to care about. I don't mean that the book is written in such a way as to leave the reader wondering what possibilities might occur, I am talking about secondary characters and secondary storylines that just need better conclusions. For example, Picoult lets us grow close and feel the pain and injustice of the younger brother in this book. We hurt for him, we understand how unfair it is, we want to know how it ends for him. I wonder if Picoult thought her conclusion was enough to heal a lifetime of injustices, but I don't think it was, I wanted more understanding and more repentance.

On a more political note, and commenting as an open minded parent. I found the explanation of the possibility of link between autism and vaccinations. The mother explained both sides of the debate and made the simple comment that is often overlooked, that while science may support one belief, anecdotal evidence can be enough to make a mother wonder. In this book the mother supported delayed vaccination (the vaccination of children on a slightly prolonged schedule to allow the child to be slightly older when receiving certain vaccinations) but also believed in the possibility of link between autism and vaccinations (due to a Mercury based compound used in vaccinations over a decade ago). I found it a very balanced argument.