Marcelo in the Real World (by Francisco X. Stork)

In the summer before his senior year, Marcelo, a high-functioning autistic who has been sheltered in a special school, is forced by his hard-driving lawyer father to take a summer job in his law firm's mail room so that he can learn to function in the "real world." But Marcelo learns more about the real world than his father intended, including finding out just what kind of lawyer, and person, his father really is.

This book has frequently been compared with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, but the similarities are superficial: a high-functioning autistic teen narrator and a mystery. Here the mystery isn't very mysterious -- the reader, and very soon after, Marcelo, have a pretty good idea what happened. The question is what Marcelo will do about it. It is watching Marcelo, with his unusual way of thinking and perceiving, feel his way to a decision and the consequences it will entail that provides the story. And it is seeing Marcelo grow in offbeat understanding of a kind seldom imparted to those with an ordinary view of the world that provides the heart.

In the course of this summer Marcelo faces, thinks about, and discusses with other characters many issues that will fascinate readers as well, from relationships and sex to ethics, human nature, and some unusually deep conversations about religion. The author is at some pains to make clear that Marcelo's condition is not precisely autism or Asperger's Syndrome, but something related, and really it is more of a literary tool to allow the author to look at the ordinary world through extraordinary eyes. This is a beautifully written, carefully constructed, though-provoking, and moving story, with a kind of loving wisdom all too rare in fiction these days, that will have readers taking a look at their own realities with perhaps a different point of view, and wondering if some aspects of Marcelo's so-called disability might actually be -- enviable.

From the Book:
"It is an experience you haven't had, really. At Paterson you are in a protected environment. The kids who go there are not ... normal. Most of them will be the way they are all their lives. You, on the other hand, have the ability to grow and adapt. Even your Dr. Malone thinks this is the case. He's said so since the very first time we saw him. All these years, it wasn't really necessary for you to go to Paterson. You don't really belong there. I know you realize this yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. You just move at a different speed than other kids your age. But in order for you to grow and not get stuck, you need to be in a normal environment. It is time. Here is what I propose: If you work at the law firm this summer, then at the end of the summer, <i>you</i> decide whether you want to spend your senior year at Paterson or at Oak Ridge High."

Author: Francisco X. Stork
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine
Publication date: March 1, 2009
Number of pages: 312
Hardcover price: $17.99
Read Aloud: 14
Read Alone: 14