Novel Pen Pal Letter

The John Carroll School
703 Churchville Road
Bel Air, Maryland 21015
September 2, 2008

Dear Christopher,

My name is Sean and I enjoyed reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time over the summer. Besides reading the novel, I went on two different vacations. The first one was to Virginia Beach for a national baseball tournament. My team came in fifth place,
which was good considering the talent of the other teams. The other vacation I took was to Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. My whole family went and we had a grand time hiking, swimming, and white water rafting.

I think the novel was one of the best books I have ever read. I don’t think it was the best idea for you to punch the policeman when he thought you killed Wellington. You should have let him take you and question you. Also, I think it was not smart to run away from home because your father was the one who killed Wellington. Something horrible could have happened to you when you went out in public by yourself. I liked the way you handled the police officer at the train station though. You were very pleasant and then went and hid from him. Even though that was a bad idea, it worked well for you and you ended up finding your mother in the end anyway.

I liked the author’s writing style as the story unfolded. Since you were writing the story about your life, you kept me in suspense because I never knew what was going to happen. You only talked about the key things that were happening during your life which made every chapter interesting. Every detail that you wrote about was interesting, and you elaborated just enough so I could get a perfect idea of what you were talking about. You seemed very realistic to me as I kept reading. Since I knew from the front flap that you were autistic, every action you made was an action an autistic boy would make. I have had personal experience with autistic children and the way you handled certain situations made you seem just like a real autistic boy.

Why did you think Wellington being killed was such a big deal to begin with Christopher? Also Christopher, why did you keep on trying to figure out who killed Wellington after your father told you not to put your nose into other people’s business? I am proud of you that you went out into the public by yourself even though you dislike the concept of change. You proved to yourself and showed the readers that you can face change. I was also happy for you when your father gave you a dog. I felt that you had deserved it and it would be good for you to have a dog to spend time with.

I can raise awareness about autism by recommending close friends and relatives to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I might find someone who is autistic and use them as an example to show people about the social issue of autism. I can also create a website and list facts about autistic people to raise awareness. The other social issue is savant syndrome. I can raise awareness about this by sharing stories about people who are savants and showing that even though they are mentally limited, they can still be talented at other things. Again, I could create a website and state facts about savant syndrome to raise awareness about that social issue. I think that The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time will leave me thinking about autistic people and savant syndrome.

I had a good time reading the novel, Christopher, and I think you are a good author. I think next time you should try writing a fictional story since you have such a creative mind. I hope all is well and take care.