History Literature / HouseRules

* {{Jerkass}}: Jacob, who thinks he is the next step in evolution. To be fair, the logic he uses to come to this conclusion makes perfect sense to him, and he doesn't understand why someone else wouldn't see it the same way he does.

* [[AbusiveParents Abusive Mother]]: Emma has neglected Theo in favor of being TheCaretaker for Jacob and performing this duty to the point where Jacob is, for all purposes, codependent on her.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Theo. A prime example of this is when his mother promises him that they'll go to the cinema, a rare treat for Theo, who's constantly passed over in favour of keeping Jacob's "meltdowns" to a minimum. He's excited when the day of the trip arrives...only for Jacob to find out that he's out of books, and is threatening to throw a fit if he doesn't get new ones. They end up at the library instead of the cinema. On realising that his mother hasn't even noticed how badly she's disappointed her younger son (again), the usually well-behaved Theo decides to throw a tantrum in the middle of the library. ''Then'' his mother starts screaming and crying herself, an event that shocks Theo and leaves him feeling guilty years later.

** Interestingly, when their grades at school, Jacob's are good but not exceptional, while Theo gets straight A's.

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Emma to Jacob; sdoesn't give the guilt-trip verbally to Jacob, but she justifies herself to the reader in the narrative.

* DisappearedDad: The [[SarcasmMode classy]] S o B's stated reason for abandoning his wife and two young children is that he can't handle his elder son's "Asperger's." (see below)

* InsufferableGenius: Jacob in ''House Rules'', even if his area of genius is limited. It's a trait of his autism. He openly states that his brother isn't as smart as him, and sees his lack of empathy as "the next step in evolution: I cannot take away your sadness, so why should I acknowledge it?"

* StrictlyFormula

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Emma to Jacob; he doesn't give the guilt-trip verbally to Jacob, but she justifies herself to the reader in the narrative.

*** Jacob is also bullied more openly than Theo is.

* HotForTeacher: Jacob has feelings for Jess. Unfortunately for him, he attempts to ask her out while eating lunch with her and her boyfriend.

''House Rules'' is a 2010 novel by JodiPicoult. Like every other book she writes it takes place in New England, there is an IllGirl (er... boy in this case), a catastrophe leading to a court case and a twist ending.

* TheCaretaker: Emma, of her autistic son Jacob.

** Interestingly, when their grades at school, Jacob's are good but not exceptional, while Theo gets straight As.

''House Rules'' is a 2010 novel by JodiPicoult. Like every other book she writes it takes place in New England, there is an IllGirl (er... boy in this case)a catastrophe leading to a court case and a twist ending.

* {{Jerkass}}: Jacob, who thinks he is the next step in evolution.
** Helen Sharp, who says "Aspergers is the new selfish" or Rich, who tricks Jacob into an interrogation room by using doublespeak. Also Theo [[spoiler: for withholding evidence until the end of the book]], Emma, for completely ignoring Theo's needs and telling Jacob that he can't have it both ways (though Jacob points out that neurotypicals do frequently), and Henry, for walking out because he can't deal with Jacob's A.S.

* ShownTheirWork: Picoult makes a point to tell the reader all about the research that she did for the book. As to how well it was utilized well...{{YMMV}}

''House Rules'' is a book by JodiPicoult. Like every other book she writes it takes place in New England, there is an IllGirl (er... boy in this case)a catastrophe leading to a court case and a twist ending.

* MyBelovedSmother: Emma takes on the role of TheCaretaker to Jacob UpToEleven to the point where she becomes this. It is an {{understatement}} to say that Emma goes out of her way to make sure that Jacob's special needs are accomodated for. She makes sure that his routine is always followed and to calm him down when he's having a meltdown. Unfortunately, she does it to the point where Jacob has practically no coping skills whatsoever.

* [[FantasyForbiddingFather Fantasy Forbidding Mother: Emma to Jacob. She considers herself to be a good parent because she is TheCaretaker for her autistic son and even indulges his interest in forensic analysis, but she makes sure that ''eighteen year old'' Jacob is unable to ''drive'', even though he's been bugging her about it. Presumably he's wanted to acquire some other skills vital to being able to live on one's own, but she's stomped him down on those, too. Theo has gotten a share of this, too, but not nearly to the codependency-inducing level that Jacob has gotten it. Theo was unable to go to the cinema (a rare treat for him) and get his learner's permit because of Jacob's meltdowns.

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Emma to Jacob;he doesn't give the guilt-trip verbally to Jacob, but she justifies herself to the reader in the narrative.

* IdiotPlot: Many reviewers note that the entire premise of ''House Rules'' depends on [[spoiler: '''absolutely nobody''' asking Jacob whether he committed the murder or not. His mother and lawyer immediately organise an insanity defence instead. This is particularly glaring because one of the traits of Jacob's Asperger's is that ''he's terrible at lying''.]]
** The plot would also be over in fifty pages [[spoiler: if Theo didn't sit through his brother's arrest, jail time and trial, and all the strain this causes on his family, without telling anyone that [[ContrivedCoincidence he broke into Jess's house on the day of the "murder"]] and ''saw her fall down and hit her head''. All right, maybe he's frightened of being charged with causing her accidental death, but when he finally owns up that doesn't seem to have occurred to him.]]

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Emma goes to great lengths to convince everyone Jacob is a kind, caring boy who is far too innocent to commit murder... But as Theo points out Jacob is frequently violent and very capable of killing someone.

* TheStrawmanHasAPoint: Emma goes to great lengths to convince everyone Jacob is a kind, caring boy who is far too innocent to commit murder... But as Theo points out Jacob is frequently violent and very capable of killing someone.