The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Chronicles by Christopher Boone of Swindon, England. The book is written by Mark Haddon, who has previously worked with autistic individuals, describes the world through the eyes of Christopher, who is a self-proclaimed "special needs". The novel never explicitly says what Christopher's diagnosis is, but it is clear from the text that he would fall on the higher end of the autism spectrum. The book begins, as the title suggests, a rather curious incident with the neighbor, Mrs. Shear's Poodle Wellington. Shortly after midnight, Christopher goes to Mrs. Shear's yard only to find Wellington dead on the grass with what appears to be a pitchfork stuck in his body. At this point Christopher is discovered by Mrs. Shears and the police are called. When the police start asking Christopher questions, he doesn't like it and ends up beating the police officer and getting arrested for assault. Here begins a conflictual relationship for Christopher with the police authority which continues for the rest of the novel. It is at the police station that we first meet Christopher's father and his primary assistant. For the rest of the novel Christopher tries to become a detective and solve the mystery of who killed Wellington and why. When Christopher begins his adventures in detective work, he decides to chronicle the Wellington case in a novel which he begins to write. Christopher is assisted in his fatherhood by Siobhan who is part teacher, part psychologist, part friend. Siobhan works with Christopher at his special needs school. Christopher turns to Siobhan for a lot of support and guidance. She is one of, if not the most trusted figures in Christopher's life. He assists Christopher when he has difficulty understanding the annoyances of the world around him. Siobhan functions almost as an interpreter to translate Christopher's understanding of the world into a healthier and more appropriate one. Siobhan also serves as a positive and authoritative female figure in Christopher's life in his mother's absence. Perhaps it is partly due to Siobhan's influence that Christopher is so successful at school. Christopher could be described as having almost Savant-like characteristics. His favorite subjects are mathematics (or mathematics) and science, especially physics and aeronautics. He even wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.