Meet the Neighbors
This is the name of Mrs. Shears' poodle, whose mysterious death kicks off Christopher's investigation.
What is Wellington?
Christopher uses this mathematical system to number the chapters in his book instead of normal consecutive integers.
What are prime numbers?
Ed Boone originally tells Christopher that his mother, Judy, passed away in a hospital due to this sudden medical emergency.
What is a heart attack?
This beloved, well-traveled pet rat accompanies Christopher on his terrifying journey to London.
Who is Toby?
The title of the book is a direct quote pulled from a short story featuring this famous Victorian-era fictional detective.
Who is Sherlock Holmes?
This elderly neighbor living at number 44 acts as an accidental informant, letting slip family secrets to Christopher over tea.
Who is Mrs. Alexander?
Christopher dreams of passing this specific, advanced academic test so he can eventually go to university.
What is the A-level math exam?
Christopher uncovers the truth about his mother after discovering a cache of hidden letters addressed to him inside of this object.
What is a shirt box? (Accept "shoebox" or "his father's closet")
This teacher's aide at Christopher's school draws emoji-like faces to help him learn to read human emotions.
Who is Siobhan?
This classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story is explicitly named as Christopher's favorite book of all time.
What is The Hound of the Baskervilles?
Christopher's mother eventually moves to London to live with this man, who is also Mrs. Shears' estranged husband.
Who is Mr. Shears? (or Roger Shears)
Seeing four of these colored vehicles in a row on his morning bus ride means Christopher will have a "Black Day".
What are yellow cars?
Driven by a mix of anger, loneliness, and jealousy, this person turns out to be the true killer of Wellington the dog.
Who is Ed Boone? (Accept "Christopher's father")
Christopher strongly dislikes these two specific colors, avoiding food dyed with them entirely.
What are yellow and brown?
The weapon used to murder Mrs. Shears' dog in the very opening scene of the novel is this common backyard tool.
What is a garden fork?
This is the primary city in England where Christopher lives before embarking on his solo train journey.
What is Swindon?
Christopher has a "Super Good Day" if he happens to pass five of these colored vehicles in a row.
What are red cars?
Because Christopher hates being touched, he and his parents express affection by spreading their fingers and doing this gesture.
What is a fan-hand touch? (Accept "touching fingertips")
Christopher despises this figure of speech, calling it a "lie" because it describes something as something it is not.
What is a metaphor?
Mark Haddon's novel is structured as this specific type of narrative framework, meaning Christopher is writing the book we are actively reading.
What is a frame story? (Accept "a novel within a novel" or "metafiction")
At the end of the book, Christopher's father buys him a two-month-old golden retriever puppy and gives it this name.
What is Sandy?
Christopher proudly states that he knows every single prime number up to this exact four-digit figure.
What is 7,057?
When Christopher's father grabs him by the arm after discovering his notebook, Christopher reacts with this violent action.
What is hitting him?
When arrested early in the novel for hitting a police officer, this is the only personal item Christopher is allowed to keep in his jail cell.
What is his watch?
Because Christopher is a child processing a deeply complex world through a strictly logical lens, literary critics often label him as this type of narrator.
What is an unreliable narrator?