Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo In The Real World. Arthur A Levine Books. March 2009. ISBN: 978-0545054744. Gr 10 and up.
-- School Library Journal, 2/4/2009 6:44:00 AM
Marcelo is a boy with an autism-like “cognitive disorder” who works at his father’s law firm for the summer to gain practice for the “real world.” He starts to learn about life, love, and suffering as he adjusts to the new, real world.The concept of the book was really interesting; I had never read a book written from a perspective like that. It was very interesting to see the world from that point of view alongside the way I see the world. I also really loved the contrast between Marcelo and his coworkers. It really helped me realize the big difference between both worlds – Marcelo’s and the “real world.” It was a really well-thought-out concept that turned into a wonderful book.
I really like the cover of this book. It features a tree house and a boy and a girl walking beneath it, with a couple highlighted areas in orange. I think it looks really simple yet it stands out in a wall of books. It was also pretty reflective of the book’s contents and all of Marcelo’s idiosyncrasies. All in all, this book cover was great.
This review is from a member of the Teens Know "Best" YA Galley Group of the St. Paul Public Library and the Metropolitan State University Library and Learning Center (MN), a part of YALSA's Young Adult Galley/Teen Top Ten Project which uses 15 public libraries and school library media centers from across the country to provide feedback to publishers of young adult books.
