Book Club Spotlight -- House Rules by Jodi Picoult

This is one of the books that the library book club will be reading over the next six months. Here is the Barnes and Noble description:

Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger's Syndrome. He is hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brillant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject -- forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he is always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he's usually right. But when Jacob's small town is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob's behaviors are hallmark Asperger's, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly, the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight.

This sounds like a tough subject. Have you read this? If so, what did you think?

Changing an Ending

Recently, I came across this article about My Sister's Keeper, my all time favorite novel by Jodi Picoult and now a movie being released in theatres on June 26th. The article in USA Today reports that the ending of the movie will not be the same as the book.

But here's another shock: The movie version, due June 26, has a
different ending. And that's making some Picoult fans unhappy.
The movie, starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, tells the story of what happens when a healthy child (Breslin) turns 13 and begins to question the medical procedures she has endured in an effort to stem her older sister's (Sofia Vassilieva) leukemia. Picoult hasn't seen the movie but has read the script: "Having the ending changed would certainly not have been my choice. I wrote the ending very intentionally because I wanted to leave the reader with a certain message. And changing that ending changes that message. However, I am excited to see the movie and to judge it on its strengths."

I think it was a terrible idea to change the ending, but it isn't deterring me from seeing the movie. What do you think? Should they be allowed to change the ending? Are you planning on seeing the movie now that it isn't completely faithful to the book?

Here is the link for the original article: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-03-02-picoult-my-sisters-keeper_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip

To Care or Not to Care?

I am having an internal debate over Jodi Picoult's newest book, Handle with Care. Do I read it or not? I discovered Jodi Picoult books very late in the game and started with the spectacular My Sister's Keeper. After that I devoured anything new written by Picoult and even some of her older novels. Yet, with each book I came back to the same conclusion -- it was no My Sister's Keeper. So now I have a dilemma, do I read it and hope for the best or just skip it and wait until the reviews are in?

Speaking of reviews, here is the link to the Washington Post's review of Handle with Care:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030202755.html?wprss=rss_print/style