The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time & Murphy's Boy -- HELP

[MeredithAngel]

I need some input from people who have read these books! Or at least one of the two! I am a senior in High School & it is required for us to do a senior project. We get to choose our topic, & I chose Autistic Children because I want to work with autistic children in the future.

I am debating on reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon or Murphey's Boy, by Torey Hayden.

To be honest, I've never really enjoyed sitting down & reading a book. Math is definitely more my thing. So I really need a book that will keep me interested! I would really like anyone's opinion on either books to help make my decision easier!

Also, I need to be 100% positive that the child, within both books, has autism. I've tried to look it up, but I have not come across an answer to be confident in.

To sum it up, I need answers for the falling questions!

1. Which book did you like/dislike?

2. What did you like/dislike about the book?

3. Is the child within the book Autistic?

4. Anything else you'd like to say, I'd lovee to hear! (:

By the way,

Thank you thank you thank you sooo soo much! (:

[KathyS]

Sorry, Meredith,

But I can't help you with this, other than to say, if you plan [in the future] to work with Autistic children, you might want to try reading both of these books (if they have anything at all to do with Autism) and make these judgments/comparisons yourself.  Time to sit down and start reading, whether it's your "thing" or not....start now.  You might try reading the reviews and synopsis of these two books...Just a suggestion.   But, I'm sure if there is anyone out there that has read these books, they'll probably answer your questions for you.  Good luck!

MeredithAngel wrote:

I need some input from people who have read these books! Or at least one of the two! I am a senior in High School & it is required for us to do a senior project. We get to choose our topic, & I chose Autistic Children because I want to work with autistic children in the future.

I am debating on reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon or Murphey's Boy, by Torey Hayden.

To be honest, I've never really enjoyed sitting down & reading a book. Math is definitely more my thing. So I really need a book that will keep me interested! I would really like anyone's opinion on either books to help make my decision easier!

Also, I need to be 100% positive that the child, within both books, has autism. I've tried to look it up, but I have not come across an answer to be confident in.

To sum it up, I need answers for the falling questions!

1. Which book did you like/dislike?

2. What did you like/dislike about the book?

3. Is the child within the book Autistic?

4. Anything else you'd like to say, I'd lovee to hear! (:

By the way,

Thank you thank you thank you sooo soo much! (:

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I am curious, Meredith - why are you focusing on novels?  Is this a project for an English class?  There are a number of wonderful books about autism and autism spectrum disorders that would be good to read if you're interested in working with autistic children:

Thinking in Pictures (Temple Grandin has a number of books)

Look Me in the Eye  

[becke_davis]

I've only read one of the two books you mentioned, but I can highly recommend Mark Haddon's book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time