House Rules.
Unlike the central character in this book, I do not have Asperger's Syndrome --- mostly.
Having read the first three sections of chapter one, about the mother, Emma, the older son with Asperger's, Jacob, and the normal son, Theo, I was thrown for a loop by a section labelled "Rich." I thought, "What?" and "Who's this?" And I kept flipping back through the beginning to figure out who this character was and what his connection was with the family. There was no connection. There was no relation. I just had to suck it up and let the author throw new and unrelated characters in front of me without any introduction. It didn't help that the second chapter jumped from Emma's and Theo's point of view to that of a totally new and unrelated character --- An incompetent lawyer called Oliver.
It completely does not help my understanding of the story when the font changes from serif, for Emma, to sans-serif for Theo, to semi-sans-serif for Jacob. There is no difference in the sans-serif between I and 1. And the capital I in the semi-sans-serif font looks exactly like a 1. So, when I saw 1EP, I couldn't figure out what it meant, and I kept flipping back through the pages looking for the explanation which did not come until much later in the book. (IEP = Individual Education Program).
It would have been extremely useful if the book had included a cast of characters at the beginning, listing all of the major character's names, and their relation with the other characters.
Write well,
Logan
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