House Rules - 3nd set of questions/answers

1. Jacob cannot stand hair hanging down loose, so in order to avoid a reaction, people who know this about Jacob will wear their hair up with a ponytail holder.
2. The story is written from the perspective of several different characters - at first I liked this because I get see what everyone is thinking, like you said - from different perspectives - but then I found myself just reading through without looking at the title (person's name) of the chapter or section, and have to turn back to see who is talking now, so it is kind of distracting.
3. Both Theo and Jacob do things to try to have a "real home" (mostly Theo, with his breaking into other people's homes to pretend he is part of their family). I think he wishes he had a normal brother, but most of all a father which would complete the family and make things more normal.
4. Jacob says being on the other side of dead isn’t that different from having Asperger’s. He is at the time sitting beside (shoulder to shoulder) with the dear departed Jess. He is thinking that she has gone to another place, like he goes to another place when he is having a meltdown or just needs to space out to get away from all external stimuli.
5. Mark is a suspect in the death of Jess, his girlfriend until Jacob is presented as a more likely suspect. That happens because Emma sees on the news where Jess is found, her body covered by Jacob's quilt. Maybe this is just hindsight, but I believe Emma should have questioned Jacob more before calling the police, should have asked him specific questions - she knows more than anyone else how to get information out of her son.
6. Jacob obviously needs the accommodations provided to him by the school and court in order to be able to function in those settings, to put him on a more even playing field with everyone else. I think it is fair to request these special accommodations to allow the one with Asperger's to interact with his peers instead of just labeling them 'special ed' and isolating them.
7. Jacob is taken to the police station and questioned, he has already been tricked into this Rich who told Jacob he needed some help solving old cases. Rich offers Jacob some old Halloween candy, but Jacob says it is not gluten-free, "Do you have any Skittles?" Luckily for Rich there are Skittles handy, so the questioning can proceed.

~posted by Susan of patchwork reflections