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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionseBook editionsMarcelo in the Real Worldby Francisco Stork
Staff Pick
Marcelo, a teen on the autism spectrum working at his father's law office for the summer (in Boston — and I'm from Boston!), grapples with his sense of right and wrong. At first glance, Marcelo in the Real World looks like a straightforward legal mystery, but tangled up in this drama is a well-crafted novel about an ethical dilemma from an outsider's perspective. Part Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, part John Grisham, and part I Am the Messenger, this book is as beautiful inside as it is on the outside. It blew me away. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear — part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify — and he's always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm's mailroom in order to experience "the real world." There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it's a picture he finds in a file — a picture of a girl with half a face — that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight. Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside. Review:"Artfully crafted characters form the heart of Stork's (The Way of the Jaguar) judicious novel. Marcelo Sandoval, a 17-year-old with an Asperger's-like condition, has arranged a job caring for ponies at his special school's therapeutic-riding stables. But he is forced to exit his comfort zone when his high-powered father steers Marcelo to work in his law firm's mailroom (in return, Marcelo can decide whether to stay in special ed, as he prefers, or be mainstreamed for his senior year). Narrating with characteristically flat inflections and frequently forgetting to use the first person, Marcelo manifests his anomalies: he harbors an obsession with religion (he regularly meets with a plainspoken female rabbi, though he's not Jewish); hears 'internal' music; and sleeps in a tree house. Readers enter his private world as he navigates the unfamiliar realm of menial tasks and office politics with the ingenuity of a child, his voice never straying from authenticity even as the summer strips away some of his differences. Stork introduces ethical dilemmas, the possibility of love, and other 'real world' conflicts, all the while preserving the integrity of his characterizations and intensifying the novel's psychological and emotional stakes. Not to be missed. Ages 14 — up." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:A summer job with a prestigious law firm might fuel the dreams of a bright high school senior, but Marcelo Sandoval has other ambitions. The teen, who has Asperger syndrome, plans to train the therapeutic ponies at his special school, but his lawyer father, Arturo, wants him to work in the "real world," specifically the mailroom of his firm, Sandoval and Holmes. As Marcelo learns, this entails making... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) Synopsis:Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel challenges the boundaries of autism. It is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside. Synopsis:Imagine CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG . . . with a romance, and you have the beginnings of this story of a young man struggling with the world outside his head--and the woman who gets inside it. Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear--part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify--and he's always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm's mailroom in order to experience "the real world." There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. (cont'd) About the AuthorFrancisco Stork studied Latin American literature at Harvard before completing a law degree at Columbia University. Publishers Weekly praised his first novel The Way of the Jaguar, as "a splendidly intense debut". His second book, Behind the Eyes, was selected as both a Commended title for the Americas Award and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 2 comments: 
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