Read: April 13, 2012
Summary: Jacob Hunt, a teen with Asperger’s syndrome, has a special focus on one subject—forensic analysis. Installed in Jacob’s room is a police scanner which leads him to crime scenes, a homemade fingerprint analysis, and other investigative tools. With the help of his police scanner, Jacob always shows up and tells the cops what to do.
Jacob’s hometown, a small town in Vermont, is shocked by a terrible murder. Law enforcement turns to Jacob to help solve the crime. As persons with Asperger’s have social awkwardness and other behavioral quirks, Jacob’s behaviors look a lot like guilt to the local police. Emma Hunt, Jacob’s mother, is desparate to have her family fit in. Now that the family is in the spotlight, Emma is reminded of the intolerance and misunderstanding that she has long tried to fight. Theo, Jacob’s younger brother, uses this time to be reminded that normality will not come to his family.
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the story of this book and how it was told. It was interesting to read all the forensic science facts interspersed throughout the story and, for me, kept me moving through the book quickly. Since the book wasn’t told from just one character, it was great to read the various viewpoints of all main characters. Each character took their turn telling the story from where the previous character left off, along sometimes it recounted a specific story differently. As I was getting different views from each character, it was nice that they interacted with each other and had some overlap. The ending of the book was disappointing. It fell flat and I was expecting something completely different. Like the book, Sister, I felt this book’s ending needed one final chapter summarizing the after math.
