Why am I passionate about this?
The tagline on the cover of my book reads: Family life is not always easy. And never a truer word was spoken. I was inspired to write my book while raising my own daughter, Nina, who was diagnosed with autism at age ten. My book is fiction, but my knowledge of autism is from my lived experience. As Nina got older, she began to join me in doing talks about my book–where she was the autism expert, and I was the expert in writing. Together we have done many talks on TV, radio, newspapers, schools and libraries. I hope you enjoy these autistic characters–real and fictional–as much as I do.
Catherine's book list on books with autistic characters
Why did Catherine love this book?
I read this book before my daughter was diagnosed with autism, but I recognized things in the main character, Christopher, that reminded me of my daughter, Nina. His honesty and intelligence, plus his ability to infuriate his parents, certainly rang bells.
Christopher is very lovable, and I find the scenes heartbreaking when the public misunderstands his overtures of friendship–or just his honest curiosity. This rings true, though, because the public can be very judgmental of autistic people if they are viewed as being too ‘different.’ Thankfully, the book has a positive ending; in fact, the final phrase is ‘…I can do anything.’
22 authors picked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year
'Outstanding...a stunningly good read' Observer
'Mark Haddon's portrayal of an emotionally dissociated mind is a superb achievement... Wise and bleakly funny' Ian McEwan
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the…