About This Book

A novel that challenges the boundaries of autism.

This summer, Arturo Sandoval declares, his son Marcelo will learn about the real world.  He will work in the mailroom of Arturo's law firm.  He will interact with everyone in the office.  He will be normal, as Arturo has always said he is, and not have a highly functioning form of Asberger's Syndrome, as Marcelo knows he does.  And Marcelo, reluctantly, must agree to his father's terms.

He soon learns reality isn't easy.  Wendell, the son of Arturo's partner, offers friendship to further his own ends.  The law firm hides an injustice that will transform Marcelo's world.  But through it all, there is Jasmine, his beautiful and tenacious coworker, his true friend...and perhaps more.

Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel encompasses a legal battle, a subtle love story, and the primal coming-of-age narrative: discovering the truth of one's own capacities.   

Winner of the 2010 Schneider Family Book Award

* "His inspiring, brave journey into the real world will likely engender a fierce protective instinct in readers, ratcheting up the tension as the plot winds to its sweet, satisfying denouement. It is the rare novel that reaffirms a belief in goodness; rarer still is one that does so this emphatically." — Horn Book, starred review

* "Artfully crafted characters form the heart of Stork’s judicious novel.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." — Publishers Weekly, starred review  

* "In what turns out to be considerably more than just another tale told by an intelligent narrator with a spectrum disorder...In the end Marcelo keeps his feet amid strong emotional currents, makes the hard choices and even maps out a personal future that wasn’t at all clear earlier on.  Stork delivers a powerful tale populated by appealing (and decidedly unappealing) characters and rich in emotional nuance." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About the Authors or Illustrators

Francisco X. Stork

Francisco X. Stork is the author of the critically acclaimed title Marcelo in the Real World as well as Behind the Eyes and The Way of the Jaguar. He is a practicing attorney who lives near Boston.

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