Marcelo in the Real World by Stork

Marcelo is about to begin the summer before his last year in a special school for kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders. He seems to be high functioning Asperger's Syndrome. Like other books with main characters with autism Marcelo explains his view of things as compared with the real world view for the reader. Marcelo expects to spend his summer helping at the school's stable where he tends horses in the riding therapy program. He has become good enough and independent enough that he has been promised a job when he graduates next year. Marcelo's father however, believes he should be working in the real world and should go to high school in a real public high school in the fall. He and his father work out a bargain. Marcelo successfully completes a summer internship at his father's law office and his father will let him complete high school at his beloved special school and take the stable job. While at the law office, Marcelo gets tangled up in a struggle over right, wrong and morally good actions, which lead him to damage the image of his father's office, when he discovers that information had been withheld from a case. He makes an incredibly tough, just decision which causes him to lose much though not his sense of whats right and changes his future perhaps forever. Wonderful story. Should be enjoyed by folks who enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. JDW 8/2/09