'House Rules' challenges views of disability

"HOUSE RULES," by Jodi Picoult, Atria, 544 pages, $28 (f)

As the author of numerous best-sellers, including "Handle With Care" and "My Sister's Keeper," Jodi Picoult has a way of connecting with her readers.

It's not that Picoult's works will ever be considered classics. What makes this author stand out is her stories and the characters who bring them to life.

And Picoult continues that tradition in her latest book, "House Rules," a story of family and the rules that bind them.

Eighteen-year-old Jacob Hunt is brilliant. He's smarter than most people. And he has an incredible memory for fact and figures.

But Jacob is not what is considered "normal." Jacob has Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism where the person affected is locked in his own world but wants to make a connection. Jacob tries to be like everyone else but doesn't know how.

Jacob is obsessed with crime scenes. He knows everything about them. He can accurately analyze a scene in record time. He even solves the crimes on the television show "Crime Busters," picking apart the clues and writing them down in notebooks.

What Jacob lacks, however, are basic social skills — keeping eye contact, touching, making friends and telling his mom he loves her. Everything for Jacob is black and white, and he takes everything literally.

In order to function in the "real" world, everything in Jacob's life is regulated — which means the lives of his mom, Emma, and brother, Theo, are regulated, too.

The family lives by rules and routines. They are what keep Jacob sane. Each day of the week has corresponding colors, and Jacob keeps to a strict schedule.

Emma has done everything she can to help Jacob — given him supplements, taken him to doctors, put him on specialized diets, even gotten him set up with a social skills tutor. But when the tutor, a graduate student named Jess, is found dead, Jacob is arrested for the murder. And life will never be the same for the Hunt family again.

Told from multiple viewpoints — Jacob, Emma, Theo, a local detective and Jacob's lawyer — "House Rules" is a complex and absorbing drama that challenges the public's view of disabilities and the definition of sanity.

Family is at the heart of Picoult's story. She shows how they struggle to cope with the symptoms of Asperger's on a daily basis. Picoult's research included interviewing children with autism and their families. This attention to detail is not lost on the reader, as pain and triumphs are both suffered and celebrated throughout.

"House Rules" is emotional and, at times, exhausting. And at 544 pages, it feels a bit long. Descriptions of crime scenes are quite vivid and may be disturbing to some readers. And the use of a so-called R-rated curse word is also used throughout the book.

Full of heart and suspense, "House Rules" is a powerful book that Picoult fans are sure to enjoy.

e-mail: jharrison@desnews.com