Picoult To Discuss 17th Novel

New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult, whose readership spans the globe, will be in town to speak about  and sign her 17th novel, House Rules, at Huntington High School this Friday, March 5. Her appearance, which is being hosted by Book Revue and OOMPAH for Arts in Education, is a ticketed event and begins at 7 pm.

Picoult is acclaimed for her masterful storytelling, meticulous research, and for taking the road less traveled as an author by focusing on thought-provoking social and moral issues. Autism is currently a hotly contested topic because of the growing number of children diagnosed and the possible link to childhood vaccines. House Rules takes the reader inside the world of a teenage boy, Jacob Hunt, with Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism, and the family that loves him. A study in contradictions, while Jacob is extremely verbal, intelligent and has a gift for forensic analysis , he is socially inept and can't make eye contact or friends. He is literal-minded, and hypersensitive to stimulation such that only strict adherence to a rigid schedule and a clearly defined set of "house rules" keeps him from having a meltdown. When Jess, the grad student who tutors Jacob in social skills goes missing and  is eventually found dead, his mother, Emma, and brother, Theo, are plagued by a soul-searing question- could Jacob have snapped and murdered his tutor ?

Tickets can be purchased in advance at Book Revue, 313 New York Avenue, Huntington. Tickets are $30.42 and a copy of House Rules is included in the price. A portion of the proceeds of the event will be donated to OOMPAH for the Arts in Education programs. For information, call Book Revue at 271-1442