Review of House Rules by Jodi Picoult

From Express Advocate Wyong --

Friday book review - House Rules by Jodi Picoult --

By: Mandi McIntosh --
16 Apr 10 --

JODI Picoult novels debut at No.1 on bookseller charts around the country when they are released.

She is a huge name in women’s fiction and her audiences are very familiar with her style and content. Readers expect to have different voices telling the story. We expect a definite moral dilemma and we also expect a twist at the end.



I was a little disappointed by her 2009 novel Handle With Care but this new novel feels like a return to the form her audiences love.

Picoult’s new novel is titled House Rules and follows a mother with two sons. Her eldest son, Jacob, has Aspergers, a high functioning form of autism. Family life is shaped by a need to keep Jacob happy and safe.

Jacob is obsessed with forensics and loves to watch CSI-style shows to solve the cases. He is 18 but still very much dependent on his school and mother for keeping his routines in place.

The action in this novel is propelled by the death of Jacob’s social skills tutor and we are drawn in to try and ascertain whether Jacob, or perhaps his younger brother Theo, may have been at fault.

This novel has strong voices with the chapters alternating between different characters telling their stories, and Picoult has, as always, done her homework.

The insights into the emotions of the family, and in particular the brother, Theo, show just how difficult and all-consuming it can be to have a family member like Jacob.

The ending in this one wasn’t a huge surprise, but there were a couple of ways it could have gone. This is a novel for Picoult fans, but also a good start if you haven’t tried one of her novels before

Review of House Rules by Jodi Picoult

From JG-TC Online (Illinois) --

Book Review: 'House Rules,' By Jodi Picoult --

By: Juanita Sherwood --
April 12, 2010 --

Many of Jodi Picoult’s recent books have featured societal issues. This one is no different: it deals with a form of autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a higher functioning form on the autism spectrum.



Jacob Hunt is the young man who has Aspergers; he is 18 years old, a senior in high school.

Jacob has suffered from autistic difficulties since he was a toddler. His mother has videos that show him as a normal youngster, but then he suddenly changed. She feels that these changes came about near the time he received some of his vaccinations, although neither she nor medical science could prove this theory.

He is a brilliant young man who has intensely focused on various subjects over the years. When he was younger it was dogs, then dinosaurs, and now it is crime scene investigation.

Jacob’s family consists of his mother and his younger brother, Theo. His parents divorced when Jacob began manifesting signs of autism around the age of 3, shortly after Theo was born.

Since he left, his father has had little to do with the boys and their mother except to send monthly support checks.

Emma, the mother, has learned techniques for dealing with Jacob both at home and in public when he has a “meltdown.” He is now the size of an adult, and sometimes physical restraint, which she used to employ when he was younger, is difficult, but she frequently is still able to apply it.

Jacob has difficulty expressing himself verbally in terms that most people use daily. He takes things literally, not understanding idioms or visual clues from others. He needs routine, and what that is disrupted, he can have a “meltdown.”

He has an IEP, an individual education plan, at school. Part of that plan is that he and other autistic teens have a timeout room that they can go to when their senses are overloaded. There he calmed himself using techniques that he had been taught.

Since he has difficulty interacting with his peers, his mother has hired Jess Ogilvy, a graduate student, to tutor him regarding social skills. Jess has been working with Jacob for several months, and he has made progress, albeit slowly. He has not been cured by any means, but he is gaining a few skills.

Jess is housesitting for a professor from her university when she turns up missing. Her boyfriend, Mark Macguire, is suspected of foul play at first, but he is “unarrested” when the police finally discover her body, and the blame turns to Jacob.

When he is arrested for Jess’s murder, he is stupefied by all of the things surrounding the arrest: being questioned by police, being held in jail, being restrained, and being separated from his family. He knows he didn’t do it, but he can’t convince the authorities of that fact.

He eventually goes to trial for Jess’s murder, and his attorney wants to use an insanity defense, feeling that that is the only hope Jacob has of being found not guilty.

Accommodations are made for Jacob’s disability in the courtroom, but the trial is difficult for all involved, especially the judge and prosecutor….

This book gives an empathetic picture of a family dealing with autism, even those with a less severe diagnosis.

At times, it seems that Picoult has overdone illustrating the effects of Asperger’s, making the book drag a bit. The chapters, narrated by characters in the story, are quite short, but it is not a fast read.

Whether or not dealing directly with autism, both parents and educators might want to give this book consideration.

Review of House Rules by Jodi Picoult

From Sunday Star Times (Australia) --

Crisp prose lifts thrilling Picoult yarn --

By: Kate Mead --
April 11, 2010 --

JODI PICOULT is not one to shy away from heartfelt, zeitgeisty matters, and her latest novel, told from the perspective of five different characters, is no exception.



Picoult introduces us to Jacob Hunt, an 18-year-old with Asperger's syndrome. Living with his mother Emma and brother Theo, Jacob is struggling in a world of colour in which he reads everything as black or white. Symptoms of his Asperger's means that Jacob has clumsy social skills, an inclination to take everything literally, and, in his case, an obsession with crime-solving and forensics. Emma and Theo alternate between feelings of guilt over how they treat Jacob and their feelings of pure love for him. While at times it is hard for them to understand his behaviour, they persevere and put up with his staged crime scenes, complete with fake blood and fingerprint analyses.

When Jacob's tutor Jess is found dead, Jacob becomes entangled in a real crime case. Because of his fascination with forensics and what seems like suspicious behaviour as a result of his condition, Jacob is charged with Jess's murder.

House Rules investigates the characters' fractured states of mind and reminds us that the lines between right and wrong are sometimes blurred. Using a dramatic narrative laced with thrills and compassion, Picoult is particularly successful in separating the characters so we can empathise and understand each one individually. Her prose is punchy and the topic is clearly well-researched, making for a wholly engrossing and emotional read. In typical Picoult style, there were no loose ends – yet I was still left wanting more.

Interview with Jodi Picoult

From The Wire (NH) --

Looking autism in the eye --

By: Matt Kanner --
06 April 2010 --

Best-selling author and N.H. resident Jodi Picoult discusses her latest novel at The Music Hall

After a grueling national tour in support of her new best-selling book, Jodi Picoult was elated to be back in her home state.



“It is so nice to be in New Hampshire again,” she told the crowd at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, where she participated in the Writers on a New England Stage series on March 31.

At the time of her visit, Picoult’s new novel “House Rules” sat atop the New York Times bestseller list for fiction. Topping the list for nonfiction, coincidentally, was “The Big Short,” the latest book from Michael Lewis, who will take The Music Hall’s stage on Wednesday, April 7.

This isn’t the first time Picoult has authored a bestseller. At the age of 43, she has already published 17 novels, several of which have been made into TV movies. Her 2003 hit novel “My Sister’s Keeper” was made into a major motion picture last year starring Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin. She has also authored several issues of the “Wonder Woman” comic book series for DC Comics.

“House Rules” tells the story of Jacob Hunt, a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome. Jacob is phenomenally intelligent, but he struggles to express himself socially. And, like many kids with Asperger’s, he has a specific passion—in Jacob’s case, forensic analysis and crime scene investigation. Tipped off by his police scanner, he begins showing up at crime scenes and offering pointers to the cops. But the tables turn when Jacob, himself, becomes a murder suspect.

Picoult, who is known for plotlines that revolve around controversial social issues, said she chose to write about Asperger’s because it’s an often misunderstood condition that affects countless families, including her own. “Like many people, I’ve had autism touch my family personally,” she said in an onstage interview with Virginia Prescott, host of New Hampshire Public Radio’s “Word of Mouth.”

Asperger’s is on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum and manifests itself in a variety of ways. Picoult spoke of her cousin David, who grew up with the syndrome and now lives in a group home. He is prone to destructive tantrums, which, at over six feet tall and 250 pounds, often draw attention from police.

Like many of Picoult’s novels, “House Rules” is written from the perspective of several different narrators. At The Music Hall, Picoult read a section of the book with narration from Jacob, his mother Emma and a police detective named Rich.

Getting into the head of a teenage boy with Asperger’s was a challenge Picoult did not take lightly. She researched prodigiously on the topic, interviewing and surveying dozens of people with Asperger’s and their families. She also studied ongoing debates about what causes Asperger’s and how best to treat it.

“I literally wound up with hundreds of pages of research,” she told Prescott.

Some of the stories Picoult heard from real people made it into her book, and a woman with Asperger’s read over the final manuscript to verify its accuracy.

Still, although Picoult has heard positive feedback from thousands of fans, some people have criticized her fictional portrayal of Asperger’s. But if Picoult weren’t confident with the accuracy of her work, she said, she never would have published it.

“Jacob is a compilation of a lot of real kids, and every kid with Asperger’s is different,” she said. “You can’t please everybody all the time, but I can tell you that if the book is out there, I stand by it.”

Picoult does exhaustive research for all her books. She has no assistant and does all the work herself. During her research for “House Rules,” she even attended an autopsy, which she said was “fun.” For her 2003 novel “Second Chance,” which involves supernatural forces, she visited haunted buildings with a team of “ghost hunters” and witnessed some truly spooky happenings.

Picoult is no stranger to writing about murky and often contentious issues. The Hanover resident, who has three kids of her own, has written about teen suicide, date rape, bulimia, the death penalty, school bullying and stem cell research, among other things. Her forthcoming novel “Sing You Home,” due out in 2011, will deal with embryo donation and gay rights.

Prescott asked Picoult how she has managed to sell millions of books in a country where most people are uncomfortable discussing the types of social issues she addresses.

“I think it’s because I try very hard not to preach to you,” Picoult said. “I really think that my opinion is no better than yours.” Instead of telling readers what to think, she added, she attempts to illustrate all sides of the argument.

Part of the price of tremendous commercial success is that Picoult does not receive much esteem from the highbrow literary community. Like some past regional authors to participate in Writers on a New England Stage, including Stephen King and Dan Brown, she’s considered more of a commercial writer than a literary writer.

Picoult said going the commercial route was a deliberate choice. Although she will likely never win a National Book Award in the United States, she said, reaching a wide audience is more important than garnering personal accolades, and she’s encouraged by the support of fans who have been touched by her work.

Also like King, Picoult is not always completely satisfied with the film interpretations of her books. Many fans of “My Sister’s Keeper” were disappointed that the film version dramatically changed the ending.

Picoult said she had no control over the screen adaptation. She said having one of your books made into a movie is like having someone else raise your baby. “Sometimes you find out that your baby grew up with crack whores, and that’s just the way it is,” she said to immense laughter.

Picoult’s work has been tagged with a reputation for appealing mainly to women—a theory supported by the predominantly female audience at The Music Hall. But Picoult thinks she is equally popular among men. She started tracking all the emails she receives from fans (she gets about 250 per day and responds to every one). “Forty-nine percent of them came from men, so hah!” she said.

Why, then, were there so many more ladies than men in the audience?

“That’s because women need a night out,” Picoult said to applause.

Jodi Picoult’s appearance at The Music Hall will air on New Hampshire Public Radio during “Word of Mouth” on Thursday, April 8 at noon. For more information on Writers on a New England Stage, a collaboration between The Music Hall, NHPR, RiverRun Bookstore and Yankee Magazine, visit www.themusichall.org.

Q & A with Jodi Picoult

From Autism Support Network --

Q&A with bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult --

By: Katherine Olson --
April 4, 2010 --

Q:House Rules follows the struggle of a single mother, her AS son Jacob and her neurotypical son Theo, as they navigate a murder mystery involving Jacob’s beloved friend and tutor. What has been your personal experience with autism? How does it relate to Jacob’s struggle to communicate, such as when he is questioned at the police station in such an aggressive way that it causes a meltdown?

A:Today, everyone has experience with autism. I have a cousin who, when he was young, was found to be profoundly autistic. Police were once called in, with allegations of child abuse. Law enforcement often doesn’t know how to question, or how to deal with autism.



Q:What are some of the rules or prejudices you feel might be broken by parents, educators in order to better reach AS kids like Jacob?

A: For teachers: Don’t assume that a child who thinks “different” is “lesser than.” Instead of teaching to the group, realize that there are multiple ways a child might learn. For parents: Don’t be such an advocate for your child that you forget who you used to be. For researchers: Stop the semantics war regarding autism and vaccines. No, science has not proved causality. But there is a difference between “connection” and “causality.” Vaccines may not cause autism but perhaps it’s worth researching whether, in certain kids, they trigger underlying genetic or mitochondrial issues which then blossom into autistic behavior.

Q: You seem to have perfected Jacob’s voice. How did you nail it?

A: I began my research at a Pennsylvania school for autistic children and interviewed six AS kids and their parents, individually. I also had 40 other teens with AS fill out questionnaires, which gave me hundreds of pages of research. These kids were blisteringly bright, and open when there isn’t social interaction concerned. I also asked one particularly bright girl with AS, who is a great writer, to read through Jacob’s narrative. Because of her incredible attention to detail, I have 100% faith in the validity of Jacob’s narrative.

Q: How has the AS and autism community reacted to your research for this book, and the story itself?

A: I have heard from so many parents thanking me for raising awareness about autism through my fiction. I only hope that when they read the book they find their experiences validated. And for those who don’t have a personal connection to autism, I hope the book can open their eyes a bit and spread a little more tolerance of children who are different.

5 Facts you don’t know about Jodi Picoult

I have two miniature donkeys

I have been skydiving.

I can’t stand custard or crème brûlée.

I met my husband when we were both on the crew team in college (I was the coxswain, he was the stroke of the boat).

In my spare time, I’ve written six original children’s musicals that have been performed to raise over $40K for charity.

Review of House Rules by Jodi Picoult

From Winnipeg Free Press --

Picoult page-turner about autism takes breath away --

By: Anne Katz --
3/04/2010 --

Jodi Picoult's new novel will demand your undivided attention.

House Rules
By Jodi Picoult
Simon & Schuster, 557 pages, $32



American commercial novelist Jodi Picoult is a prodigious writer, with almost a book a year since 1992.

She is immensely popular; her last three debuted in first place on the New York Times bestseller list; and this one has already made No. 1 on McNally Robinson's Winnipeg list.

Three of her novels (The Pact, Plain Truth and The Tenth Circle) have been made into TV movies and one (My Sister's Keeper) made it to the big screen with Cameron Diaz in the lead role.

Her books usually focus on a family with a big issue -- a child with a rare and devastating illness -- and involve a court case involved where one parent tries desperately to find a solution to the problem and the other parent is opposed to this strategy.

In House Rules, Picoult tackles the topical issue of autism spectrum disorder by telling the story of an 18-year-old man with Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism.

This is a big book, and a real page turner. While Picoult counts women as her fan base, this novel will appeal to men as well.

It is the ideal read as cottage season starts. But be careful, you won't be cleaning and organizing once you read the first page.

Jacob lives with his mother Emma, who has given up pretty much her whole life, including her husband who couldn't cope with the demands of this brilliant but extremely challenging child.

Emma has a younger son, Theo, who at 16 is profoundly affected by the accommodations they all have to make to live with Jacob.

Emma has a set of house rules that she expects her sons to abide by: clean up your own messes; tell the truth; and take care of your brother because he's the only one you've got.

One of Jacob's eccentricities is that he is extremely literal with no ability to grasp nuance or subtlety, and these three rules which he abides by almost slavishly form the focus of the story.

A young woman who tutors Jacob in social skills goes missing, and this small family is drawn into a maelstrom when her body is found and Jacob is charged with her murder.

He has all the signs of guilt -- an inability to look one in the eye, as well as an obsessive interest in forensic science and crime scene re-enactments. Was he involved in some way in her death?

Picoult tells the story through the voices of Emma, Jacob (who has an appealingly wry sense of humour), Theo, a police officer investigating the case, and the young, likely unqualified, lawyer Emma hires. Their voices are clear and distinct and the story moves along at a fast pace.

Like all Picoult's novels, House Rules is well-researched and she provides an intimate and detailed understanding of the issue at hand.

In this case, we learn about autism spectrum disorder and the fascinating presentation of Asperger's Syndrome. We also see a vivid example of the deep love parents hold for their children in all their perfection and with all their flaws.

Picoult provides the prerequisite court case and a twist at the end that some readers will see coming. But for those who don't, it may take your breath away for an instant.

Interview with Jodi Picoult

From KKTV (Southern Colorado) --

My Interview with Jodi Picoult --

By: Leslie Fichera --
Mar 26, 2010 --

There are times when you just think, I love my job! This was one of those times for me. I got to sit down and interview my very favorite author, Jodi Picoult. It was my version of meeting a celebrity and I was nervous! I had to be a one-man band (meaning I was the reporter and photographer) ... not to mention my actual job at KKTV is Web director, so although I write a lot, it had been a while since I'd picked up a camera and done my own story.



Anyway, I really liked Jodi. She was very nice and also very straight forward and funny! She made the auidience laugh a lot during her lecture and I really enjoyed listening to her speak. I was only allowed to tape the first 5 minutes of her lecture (not her rule!), but once I turned my camera off, I sat and listened to the whole lecture. It was so interesting!

Here's the story I wrote about the interview with Jodi... I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed interviewing her and writing it!

She's one of the most well-known and intriguing authors of our day. Her name tops the bestseller list 17 times over. Jodi Picoult is an outstanding writer and a strong-willed woman who dares to write about topics that force us all to challenge our beliefs, question our convictions and ponder a world that could very well be our own, if just in another life.

As an avid Picoult reader, I jumped at the chance to sit down with her while she was in Denver on tour to promote her newest book, out just this month, House Rules.

I wondered, we all know she has the ability to create dramatic and heart-wrenching stories on paper, but, where do the story ideas come from? What's behind her first-person narratives? How does she feel about her outstanding success? What's her favorite of her own novels?

In short, what's her story?

I started with what's probably the most common question for Picoult... where does she get the ideas for her dramatic and controversial books? Centered around topics like a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome who's accused of murder ("House Rules"), a death row inmate who wants to donate his heart to the sister of his victim ("Change of Heart") or an Amish girl who finds herself unmarried and pregnant ("Plain Truth"), is it her imagination or are these real-life experiences?

"My ideas come from the 'what if?' questions that I can't answer. It's the stuff that keeps me up at night," Jodi says. But Picoult says none of her books are completely made up.

"I've been doing this for 19 years now and I have never just say down at my computer and started making stuff up. In fact, sometimes research takes me longer than the physical act of writing the novel. Well, why do I even bother? I think fiction is a tight rope. I think it's my job to whisk you away from your everyday life and to somehow take you to a different place. In order to do that, I have to make characters and situations that reign extremely true, and because of that I have found myself doing some pretty remarkable things in the name of research. I have observed open heart surgery, I have spent time in jail, I got to leave at the end of the night but I did spend time in jail... I have studied with craft, I've shadowed police chiefs, I've lived with the Amish. If I haven't done it, I'm sure I'm getting there sooner of later. It makes for some really interesting work days," Picoult told the crowd of almost 1,000 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in Denver.

If you haven’t read any of Picoult’s books yet, well, that gives you a taste of the topics. Whether it’s religion, politics, sex, abortion, scandal, the death penalty or violence, Picoult says the controversial topics are no mistake. She says she feels strongly about her beliefs but she hopes the reader will never know it. She says if she’s done her job well as an author then she’s researched and represented both sides of any argument and her own beliefs should never be evident.

Specifically with “House Rules,” Picoult says she wanted to highlight a breakdown in our country's legal system when someone like Jacob Hunt, the book's main character who is diagnosed with Autism, finds himself accused of murder. His "Aspie" tendencies, the inability to look people in the eye, nervous twitches, lack of empathy and monotone voice, look an awful lot like guilt.
“You see that total breakdown in the legal system when you don’t communicate a certain way and that was really what I was driving at.”

“House Rules” hit bookstores on March 2, and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Picoult says the story idea was also partly personal; her 30-year-old cousin is autistic so she’s seen firsthand how it affects families. She says the center of the problem in our society is a simple lack of understanding. And that’s what “House Rules” is all about. That led me to my next question… how do you go about writing a first-person narrative through the voice of someone with Asperger’s syndrome? Picoult says she visited with autistic children and talked to families who live this life every day.

“I have to say I’ve been doing this for almost 19 years and Jacob is one of my favorite narrators. It was great to write like him and really stick my mind inside his. There’s a beautiful logic to Aspergers that we don’t usually think about because neuro-typical people just don’t think that way. But to think differently is not to think lesser than.”

Personally, my favorite part of her writing is that style of first person narratives. She weaves and builds characters in a way that makes us all understand them. No matter what the character or extraordinary situation, we empathize with each of them because we get into their thoughts and see it through their eyes.

“One of the things that makes me different is that I’m really hard to pigeonhole. I have people that come up to me and say you’re my favorite mystery writer or they say you’re my favorite women’s fiction writer, you’re my favorite courtroom thriller writer. I’m not any one of those, I’m sort of a mix of all of them. If I had to pick a genre, which I really hate doing, I would say it’s moral and ethical fiction because it really addresses big problems that we usually don’t want to talk about but somehow get easier to talk about when you’re following a fictional family’s excursion through that topic. And that’s something that I think does make me unique.”

Speaking of that “courtroom thriller” title- If you’ve read a lot, or all of her books (like me), you’ve probably noticed a trend: the majority of the stories go to trial. You’d think Picoult must have a law degree with the accuracy and diligence in which she writes. Picoult just chalks it up to research. She says she likes the effect a court case has on a story.

“A trial is a really natural dramatic conclusion. You have a great big build up and there’s some kind of resolution.” Although Jodi laughed as she admitted the “resolutions” are not always what you expect.

Now, I would never dare give away an ending to one of her books because they always pack a punch (Oh, and also because she told the audience during the question and answer portion of her lecture later that night that if their question gave away the ending of a book, she’d kill them – no joke). So I’m keeping my mouth shut, but I will say the endings are my favorite part of her books. Sometimes it’s left open for interpretation and sometimes it’s a huge twist. Either way on the last few pages of every one of her books, I find myself covering up the rest of the page so as not to be tempted to spoil the ending!

Picoult’s thoughts about her books’ dramatic conclusions? “I think the ends leave you with more questions. But that’s what life is. Life doesn’t wrap up in a nice tiny little bow.”

One of her books most well-known for the ending is "My Sister’s Keeper", published in 2004 and picked up as a major motion picture in 2009. It was her first book to be published in 40 languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide. Its global appeal is what Picoult said made it ripe for the picking as a movie, but she emphasizes that she feels the book, not the movie, was the jumping point for her career. (Picoult is also extremely candid about her disappointment in the way the director, Nick Cassavetes, decided to end the movie). To summarize her thoughts: why change a good thing?

As a fan, I agree, and so do many of the fellow Picoult readers I’ve spoken to. Jodi’s face lights up when I ask her about her fans. “I have a really huge demographic and that’s really a big compliment I think. I’m really proud of that.” And her fan base might surprise you… Picoult smiled as she told me, “49% of my fan mail comes from men. Which is a great thing, I love that. And they take away very different things from the books than the women do and I really appreciate the comments that they have and the way that they chose to read the books.”

So what are the days like for a bestselling author? Picoult is on book tours about three months out of the year. The other nine months, almost like clockwork she says, she’s writing a book. She’s on a pace of writing about one book a year. Picoult says she has a strict schedule for herself. Her days start with a 5 a.m. wake-up call and a three-mile walk with her best friend. She then gets her three teenage kids ready for school and out the door. At 7:30 a.m., she sits down at her desk to answer all of her fan mail (yes, the REAL Jodi Picoult answered you!). Then it’s on to the writing, rarely breaking for lunch (except when her husband, Tim, surprises her) until 3:30 p.m., when she says suddenly, she becomes a mom again.

Her methods seem to be working well for his 17-time bestselling author. So could she, or would she, answer my most burning question?

Of the 17 books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?

“I do have a favorite novel. It’s Second Glance. And I have my reasons for it being a favorite. It involved the great research I did, the fact that as a writer it was really hard to put it together, it has characters I know you’ve never seen in fiction and it has a historical plot that is real and that most people don’t even realize ever happened in America. So for all those reasons, it’s like this wonderful constellation of what made it a great act of writing for me. And I’m really proud of the way it came out. I’ve always said you can have a different favorite as long as it’s still one of my books.”

Jodi says a lot of people tell her their favorite book is the first one they read. I say my favorite changes every time I finish another one of her books. So what’s my next favorite? Picoult has already finished her next novel. Here’s a special sneak peak for all of you fans: “Sing You Home” will tell the story of Zoe and will follow suit with Picoult’s controversies by focusing on embryo donation and gay rights in America.

Picoult promises it won’t disappoint, but we’ll have to wait until March 2011 to read it. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be first in line!

Interview with Jodi Picoult

From Forbes --

No Rules For Jodi Picoult --

By: Stephanie Dahle --
03.15.10 --

Jodi Picoult is one of the world's most prolific bestselling authors. Over the last 18 years, she has turned out 17 novels--three of which were turned into television movies and another, My Sister's Keeper, starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, opened in theaters last summer.



Picoult's fans have come to expect dark and controversial scenarios that detail some of the worst that could happen to families: a medical emancipation battle between a 13-year-old who is expected to donate a kidney to her sister dying from leukemia and her parents; the murder of a newborn child born to an out-of-wedlock Amish mother; a teenage couple's murder-suicide pact.

Not this time. House Rules, Picoult's latest novel, involves a far more common family situation: autism. Approximately 1 in every 110 children currently has autism spectrum disorders. House Rules follows the fictional life of Jacob, a highly functioning boy with Asperger Syndrome, and his single mom, Emma. Hyper-intelligent and obsessed with crime scene forensics, Jacob becomes a suspect in the death of his young tutor. Picoult's novel chews on the question: How can Jacob interact with police, judges and the other upholders of the law when his autism prevents him from fully engaging in the outside world?

It's these intricate dilemmas that allow readers to grapple with life's mysterious questions--and have, in turn, earned Picoult praise from a large audience. She even has her own Apple iPhone app, which enables devoted readers to find out when Picoult is in their area via GPS tracking, and provides Picoult's own music playlist to play at their book-club meetings.

ForbesWoman spoke with Picoult as she prepared to embark on her book tour across America, Europe and Africa.

ForbesWoman: You profile an autistic boy in House Rules, and your next novel deals with being gay in today's world. How do you choose what to focus on?

Jodi Picoult: It's usually a "what if" question that I really can't answer and that keeps coming back to me; that I worry about before I go to bed at night and wake up thinking about. And if I keep thinking about, it's probably a good idea for a book.

I think the reason it feels so timely is because the things that I worry about are the same thing everybody worries about.

Before publishing, you actually had an autistic young woman with Asperger Syndrome read the sections of your book written from Jacob's perspective. Why was the important for you?

Even though I don't write nonfiction, it's critically important for me to get it right. So many people help me and open their lives up to me while I'm doing research for a book. If I weren't going to do my homework and try hard to get the voice or the conditions accurate, I would not be doing my job well. I feel a real personal responsibility to get it right so that I really honor the people who have gone out of the way to help me.

Are your books chick lit? Women's fiction? Literature?

I wouldn't call them women's books because 49% of my fan mail comes from men. My demographic ranges in age from teenagers all the way up to people in their 90s and up. I do think that I do cross genres--I would just call it moral and ethical fiction.

You have a demanding schedule: publishing a book every year and having three teenage children, ages 14, 16 and 18. How do you balance motherhood with writing?

I never had a choice. My first book was published when my first son was born. I kept writing, and I kept having babies. I was alternating books and babies for a while. Finally, I stopped having babies and just had books.

I've really patterned my writing in between the moments when they needed me, when I didn't have very much time. Even now, when I do have a lot more time, I still function that way. If there's a time when I'm sitting down to write, I sit down and write.

Do you have any assistants?

No. I would never hire a research assistant because one of the most fun parts of the writing is the research, and I learn so much that informs my writing when I'm doing the research.

I read and answer all my own fan mail. I go to the post office, and I get books from people who want them signed, repack them in envelopes and send them back out.

I think it is really important to remember where you came from and to thank the people who got you there. I'm not writing back a long missive to people who write me a fan letter, but I am listening to what they say and writing back a response. It means an awful lot to them and it means a lot to me that out of all the books in the world, they're picking up mine. I think it's really my responsibility to be able to say thank you personally.

Have you had a mentor? What impact did it have on your writing?

My mentor is Mary Morris, who was my mentor at college. She is a wonderful writer. I wouldn't be here without her.

I really thought I was a good writer when I got to Princeton, and she reminded me that I was not nearly as good as I thought I was. She almost had to cut me down so I could build myself back up. The way she did it was to give me the tools that I needed to learn how to edit myself, to be my own best editor and tell the best story. If not her for, I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today.

What advice do you give to young writers today?

Write. Do it every day if you can. Carve out a piece of time. Don't answer the phone, don't answer your mother and don't answer your e-mail. Just write.

If you can, you need to take a writing workshop course because that's the only way you'll learn how to give and get criticism. You don't need to keep taking them, you don't need an MFA, a creative writing degree, but you do need a workshop course.

When you get stuck, and you think you're writing the worst story that was ever created on the planet, most people stop at that point and throw it away. Don't let yourself stop. Go all the way through to the end, or you'll never know if you can go all the way through to the end. When you get to the end, then you can decide if you want to scrap it or fix it. You really need to get to that point to prove you yourself that you can finish something.

A lot of your books have a religious or spiritual component. Where does that come from?

There's a big difference between religious and spiritual, and that's what I tend to address. I not by any stretch of the imagination call myself religious, but I stand up on the side of belief--the right to believe in anything, even nonbelief. I think my problem with organized religion is that it says there is only one right way to do this, which is why I will constantly take them to task and will continue to do that in my books.

Your next book deals with being gay and gay rights today.

What's really cool is that I do believe I might be the first mainstream writer to attack this issue, gay rights. That's amazing me to me, but I'm glad I'm doing it. There's a real sense that gay rights is a political issue and not a personal one. I think it's about people, which is why I want to write the book.

What makes it unique is my belief that people that are against gay rights are the ones that forget that it's about people and who haven't really heard the voice of someone who is trying to do what most of us take for granted.

The main character in the book is a music therapist and a musician. In addition to the narratives of the different characters, the book is going to be packaged with a CD of original music that is theoretically written by this woman. You will literally get to hear her and hear what's important to her through her music, in addition to through her words.

I want you to hear her voice. Hear her pour out her heart to you and then be able to say, "You should not get this right." Let's see if you can still do that.

I hear this book might have an ending that is unusual in your novels?

It is a downright bona fide happy ending! My readers won't know what's happened to me.

Review of House Rules by Jodi Picoult

From The Palestine Telegraph --

Jodi Picoult knows `Rules' of engaging readers --

By: Eng.k.almallahi --
13 March 2010 --

World, March 13, 2010 (Pal Telegraph,AP)- "House Rules" (Atria, 353 pages, $28), by Jodi Picoult: Jodi Picoult knows her audience. She tends to write family dramas that tug at the heartstrings. Her books have short chapters, usually written from the perspective of the main characters, and often have a surprise ending.



Her latest book, "House Rules," sticks to this winning formula.

The story focuses on Emma, a single mom with two teenage boys. Her older son is Jacob, 18, who has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

Jacob takes comments at face value, hates the color orange and schedules his days around his favorite TV procedural crime show. He has memorized dialogue from movies to insert into conversation when needed.

When Emma confronts Jacob about an altercation with a teacher, he responds, "You can't handle the truth," a line from Jack Nicholson's 1992 film "A Few Good Men."

Emma has rearranged her life to care for Jacob. She prepares meals according to the colors he likes. On Monday, he eats green foods. On Tuesday, the color of the food is red, and so on. She can barely afford the bills for his medications and supplements.

The other family member affected by Jacob's condition is 15-year-old Theo, who is tired of making allowances for his brother. Theo desperately wants to live a normal life with a normal family. He dreams of having two parents, a big house and a brother who doesn't have special needs.

Then the family is turned upside-down. Jacob's tutor is found murdered, and he is accused of killing her. Emma can no longer shield him from life's harsh realities.

"House Rules" is a compelling mystery with heart. It won't disappoint Picoult's fans, and it should keep new readers engaged.

A Review of Jodi Picoult’s House Rules

From San Francisco Chronicle --

Jodi Picoult knows `Rules' of engaging readers --

By Alicia Rancilio --
March 12, 2010 --

"House Rules" (Atria, 353 pages, $28), by Jodi Picoult: Jodi Picoult knows her audience. She tends to write family dramas that tug at the heartstrings. Her books have short chapters, usually written from the perspective of the main characters, and often have a surprise ending.



Her latest book, "House Rules," sticks to this winning formula.

The story focuses on Emma, a single mom with two teenage boys. Her older son is Jacob, 18, who has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

Jacob takes comments at face value, hates the color orange and schedules his days around his favorite TV procedural crime show. He has memorized dialogue from movies to insert into conversation when needed.

When Emma confronts Jacob about an altercation with a teacher, he responds, "You can't handle the truth," a line from Jack Nicholson's 1992 film "A Few Good Men."

Emma has rearranged her life to care for Jacob. She prepares meals according to the colors he likes. On Monday, he eats green foods. On Tuesday, the color of the food is red, and so on. She can barely afford the bills for his medications and supplements.

The other family member affected by Jacob's condition is 15-year-old Theo, who is tired of making allowances for his brother. Theo desperately wants to live a normal life with a normal family. He dreams of having two parents, a big house and a brother who doesn't have special needs.

Then the family is turned upside-down. Jacob's tutor is found murdered, and he is accused of killing her. Emma can no longer shield him from life's harsh realities.

"House Rules" is a compelling mystery with heart. It won't disappoint Picoult's fans, and it should keep new readers engaged.