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A review by marleah_a
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
3.0
This young adult book features Marcelo, a 17-year-old boy who has a diagnosis somewhere on the autism spectrum. He describes hearing a kind of music, mixed with emotion, that comes from his head--or rather, that he feels a part of. Marcelo has a structured, happy life going to a special school and working with Haflinger horses, as well as living in a tree house in his family's backyard. This all changes when his father makes a deal with him: Marcelo will work at his father's law firm for the summer, and if he is successful, he will return to his school in the fall. However, if Marcelo does not succeed, he will then go to public school. His father is convinced that he needs to spend more time around "normal" people. While working at the law firm, he meets new friends, has new experiences, and realizes that the world is not as black and white as he once thought.
I liked this book, although it wasn't as good as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Marcelo's voice as someone with something like Asperger's Syndrome was fairly accurate. I work with some kiddos diagnosed somewhere on the autism spectrum, and I could see some of those quirks in Marcelo. I also see some parents who are something like Marcelo's. The book takes on a bit of legal-thriller later on, which served well as Marcelo's introduction to the ways of the world. However, the book ended somewhat abruptly. I didn't feel as though there were any real resolution, and there was still so much left to Marcelo's story. Maybe that is the point though -- life doesn't really give us much resolution, and it just continues on.
I liked this book, although it wasn't as good as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Marcelo's voice as someone with something like Asperger's Syndrome was fairly accurate. I work with some kiddos diagnosed somewhere on the autism spectrum, and I could see some of those quirks in Marcelo. I also see some parents who are something like Marcelo's. The book takes on a bit of legal-thriller later on, which served well as Marcelo's introduction to the ways of the world. However, the book ended somewhat abruptly. I didn't feel as though there were any real resolution, and there was still so much left to Marcelo's story. Maybe that is the point though -- life doesn't really give us much resolution, and it just continues on.