NEXT UP! 1 72 The English author Mark Haddon (1962– ) thought he was going to study mathematics when he grew up. Then, as a teenager, he discovered the joy of reading and went on to study literature in Oxford. His first children’s book was published in 1987. With The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003), he had his international breakthrough. Although Haddon wrote this mystery novel for adults, it has had great success with younger readers. Haddon has said himself that the novel is about being different and the acceptance of others. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time In this excerpt, you meet Christopher Boone, 15. He lives with his dad and his pet rat, Toby. He knows a lot about maths, and he likes to make lists and patterns. What he doesn’t like is talking to strangers. One day he finds his neighbour’s poodle on the lawn, murdered. Christopher sees it as his mission to find out what happened to the dog and to solve this murder mystery. […] 2 It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears’ house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog. The points of the fork must have gone all the way through the dog and into the ground because the fork had not fallen over. I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds in the dog and I do not think you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died for some other reason, like cancer for example, or a road accident. But I could not be certain about this. Before reading What do you think the title means? Read the introduction. Who do you think has killed the dog, and why? a breakthrough – að slá í gegn acceptance – samþykki a pattern – mynstur a stranger – ókunnugur a mission – verkefni to chase – að elta a garden fork – heykvísl a wound – sár to be certain – að vera viss
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