The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nocturnal Chronicles of Christopher Boone of Swindon, England. The book, written by Mark Haddon, who has previously worked with autistic people, describes the world through the eyes of Christopher, who is a self-described "special needs person." The novel never explicitly says what Christopher's diagnosis is, but from the text it is clear that he would be on the high end of the autism spectrum. The book begins with, as the title suggests, a rather curious incident with the neighbor, Mrs. Shear Wellington Poodle. Shortly after midnight, Christopher walks to Mrs. Shear's yard to find Wellington dead on the grass with what appears to be a pitchfork embedded 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 hitting the officer and getting arrested for assault. Here begins a conflicting relationship between Christopher and the police authority that continues for the remainder of the novel. It is at the police station that we first meet Christopher's father and primary caregiver. For the rest of the novel, Christopher tries to become a detective and solve the mystery of who killed Wellington and why. As Christopher begins his adventures in detective work, he decides to chronicle the Wellington affair in a novel which he begins to write. Christopher is assisted in his writing by Siobhan who is part teacher, part psychologist and part friend. Siobhan works with Christopher at his special needs school. Christopher turns to Siobhan for a lot of support and advice. She is one of, if not the most, trusted figures in Christopher's life. She helps Christopher when he has difficulty understanding the nuisances of the world around him. Siobhan functions almost as an interpreter to translate Christopher's understanding of the world into a more healthy and appropriate one. Siobhan is also a positive and authoritative female figure in Christopher's life in his mother's absence. It may be partly due to Siobhan's influence that Christopher is so successful at school. Christopher could be described as exhibiting almost scholar-like characteristics. His favorite subjects are mathematics (or mathematics) and science, particularly physics and aeronautics. He even wants to become an astronaut when he grows up.