Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  New York: Vintage, 2003. 

ISBN 1400032717.  Paperback, 226 pages, $14.00, ages 13 and up.

#annotation

The journal account of a boy with Asperger’s who seeks to uncover the answer to a neighborhood puzzle.  His journey leads to new realizations about himself and his family relationships.

#booktalk

Ÿ 3.“My name is Christopher John Francis Boone.  I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7.057.” 

Ÿ 7.“This is a murder mystery novel. Siobhan said that the book should being with something to grab people’s attention.  That is why I started with the dog.  I also started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me.”

Ÿ19.”Chapters in books are usually given the cardinal numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 and so on.  But I have decided to give my chapters prime numbers 2,3,5,7,11,13 and so on because I like prime numbers.”

            Ÿ101.“Mr. Jeavons said that I liked maths because it was safe.  He said I liked maths because it meant solving problems, and these problems were difficult and interesting but there was always a straightforward answer at the end.  And what he meant was that maths wasn’t like life because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end.  I know he meant this because this is what he said.  This is because Mr. Jeavons doesn’t understand numbers.” 

Ÿ 233. “And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? And I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.”

#awards

Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel and Best Book of the Year

Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book

Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

Trailer for the stage production: