Marcelo in the Real Worldby Francisco Stork (YA STORK, F.)
Marcelo Sandoval is 17 years old, and more than anything, he's excited to have a job working with the horses at his private school during the summer before senior year. Marcelo's father, Arturo, is not so excited. Arturo believes that Marcelo has spent too much of his life allowing his Asperger-like qualities (akin to autism) to isolate him from the "real world." So Arturo cuts Marcelo a deal: spend the summer working in the mailroom at Arturo's law firm in Boston, and Arturo will allow Marcelo to decide whether he wants go back to his private school or enter public school for senior year. Little do Marcelo or Arturo know that their entire relationship will be defined by this one summer.
This is the finest book I've read this school year. Stork writes from the first-person perspective of Marcelo, revealing a deeply sympathetic and thought-provoking internal world. Marcelo's struggle to meet others' eyes, to communicate clearly, to understand a world of illogical social norms -- it all makes sense when you hear it from Marcelo's perspective! And throughout it all, he faces the same coming-of-age issues of any almost-adult: autonomy, justice, convictions, love, and a desire to find his place in the world. Read this to wrestle through how you relate to anyone who functions outside the social norm... and to remind yourself of why you love working with teens! (Written for ages 14+.)
