The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - by Mark Haddon
From Wikipedia: The 15-year-old Christopher Boone goes to a school for students with special needs (a euphemism he disparages) because he has a form of autism. Christopher is a mathematical savant, has a photographic memory, is extremely observant and has a pathological inability to tell lies. However, he has difficulty understanding human behaviour, gestures and relationships. He takes a deep interest in mathematics. He owns a pet rat named Toby.
Christopher has many traits that separate him from others because of his perception of life. He is unable to recognise and comprehend facial expressions besides 'happy' and 'sad' and has difficulty in understanding metaphors and jokes. He likes lists and facts, has a fear of strangers and new places, and his favourite dream is one in which all "normal" people (those who are unlike him) die. In addition to that, he is over-sensitive to information and stimuli. For this reason, he screams and reacts violently to people who touch him. However, he doesn't mind pressing his fingers against those of his parents as a gesture of love. He curls up and groans to protect himself against overwhelming noise or information.
Christopher hates the colours yellow and brown, but loves red. This extends to adding red food dye to brown- or yellow-coloured food (and being unable to eat two different kinds of food that are touching), and also his belief that seeing three, four or five red cars in a row means it's a "good", "quite good", or "super good" day, respectively, while four yellow cars signify a "black" day, on which he will not eat his lunch or talk to anyone. Finally, he dislikes eating food from new places and the furniture being moved.
It's one of the best novels I've read lately, highly recommended!
