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Marcelo in the Real World Francisco Stork Francisco X Stork 9780545054744 Books

Download As PDF : Marcelo in the Real World Francisco Stork Francisco X Stork 9780545054744 Books

Marcelo in the Real World Francisco Stork Francisco X Stork 9780545054744 Books

3.5 Stars

Seventeen year old Marcelo (pronounced "Marselo") is described as having an "autism-like" condition. That's as close as doctors can come to defining his unique gift of being able to hear music where no one else can. Unfortunately for Marcelo, his father doesn't see anything particularly rare or special about his son's gift. Instead, the father pushes Marcelo to take a job in the mailroom of his law firm --- dad's reasoning being that the position will teach Marcelo useful skills about "the real world" and put him on the path to success, rather than let his mind run away with creative dreamer fancies.

Once in the mailroom environment, Marcelo meets and befriends the lovely Jasmine and Wendell, the son of one of the partners at the law firm. As his father anticipated, the first days were an experience for Marcelo, to say the least, as another "autism-like" trait that Marcelo displays is a struggle with interpreting facial expressions. But thanks to classes Marcelo attends to help him learn tips & tricks to help him out with this (instruction in voice inflection, speech patterns, and the like), it actually doesn't take him too long to find his way. It's a tough time for the reader though. We have to watch Marcelo navigate around co-workers who assume he's mentally incompetent, or those who try to bully or take advantage of him because he can't immediate recognize that he is being tricked. This is the "real world" his father so desperately wanted him to be a part of... thanks, dad!

Marcelo develops a love for religious texts and often turns to reading or reciting scripture to himself to calm his nerves when the world starts to overwhelm him. At one point, he finds himself unexpectedly caught up in one of his father's most important legal cases, one that will push Marcelo to fight for what he believes in, regardless of what others around him might say.

After being published in 2009, in 2010 this novel was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award for Teen Fiction, an award that recognizes fiction that focuses on characters with disabilities.

I've come across pages of glowing reviews for this one, and while I did very much enjoy it, I can't comfortably join the 5 star crowd here. The story had some dents for me. I loved Marcelo, the way his mind worked and his unique style of interacting with others even if he didn't (admittedly) always understand all the unspoken social cues. Something in that I found myself relating to quite a bit. His friendship with Jasmine is sweet & lovely and I found myself wishing he and Wendell could get on a bit better. So the characters undeniably spoke to me on some level. My trouble was with the writing. Some of the characters came off just a little too weirdly staccato in their speech and mannerisms for my enjoyment. The flow of things just felt a shade off from natural. In Marcelo's case it's understandable and almost expected, given that he's been diagnosed with a "autism-like" condition, but that doesn't explain the other characters!

Also, if I'm being honest with my reading experience... there was just something a little... lackluster maybe?... with the plot as a whole, as far as pace and plot action. I was all about this story in the early pages! Those first few chapters definitely had me hooked. But this was one of those books where I could feel my love and interest of it slowly trickling down instead of racing up. Reading pages on end and then realizing later, "you know, that was actually a whole lotta nothing going on"... and the book's not even that long! Still, I did quite like Stork's message here -- the way Marcelo finds his own voice in a sea of so many others telling him what he needs or what he should do --- it made me curious to try out some of Stork's other works just to compare, so I now have a couple on order. Even with the elements I myself found problematic, I would still solidly recommend this to anyone looking for YA reads featuring the theme of autism and enhanced abilities.


Tags : Marcelo in the Real World [Francisco Stork, Francisco X. Stork] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>The term cognitive disorder implies there is something wrong with the way I think or the way I perceive reality. I perceive reality just fine. Sometimes I perceive more of reality than others. </br> </br>Marcelo Sandoval hears music that nobody else can hear ― part of an autism-like condition that no doctor has been able to identify. But his father has never fully believed in the music or Marcelo's differences,Francisco Stork, Francisco X. Stork,Marcelo in the Real World,Arthur A. Levine Books,0545054745,Romance - General,Social Themes - Emotions & Feelings,Asperger's syndrome,Asperger's syndrome;Fiction.,Autism,Autism;Fiction.,Interpersonal relations,Interpersonal relations;Fiction.,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Fiction,JUVENILE FICTION Love & Romance,JUVENILE FICTION Social Themes Emotions & Feelings,JUVENILE FICTION Social Themes Special Needs,JUVENILE FICTION Westerns,Juvenile FictionLove & Romance,Juvenile FictionSocial Themes - Emotions & Feelings,Love & Romance,Personal & social issues: disability & special needs (Children's Teenage),Social Themes - Special Needs,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Emotions & Feelings

Marcelo in the Real World Francisco Stork Francisco X Stork 9780545054744 Books Reviews

One of my favorite reads this year. The writing was smooth, flowing, funny, charming, yet poignant. It didn't lose any depth for its entertainment value. The story unfolded in a thoughtful way that didn't underestimate its audience or the protagonist. This was my first Francisco Stork read, and I'm now a fan. If his other works are like this, then I'm sold. It's one of those books that flowed so smoothly and kept me so engaged that I read it quite fast. I just enjoyed being with the main character. That's a bit winner for me.
Marcelo is a teen with Aspergers, attending a private school for kids with special needs, and looking forward to his next year when he’ll work with the ponies. But that’s not the plan his father has in mind, and Marcelo must leave the safety of his school for the minefield that is his father’s law office.

What I enjoyed most about this story was the characterization. Stork does a masterful job of fleshing out all of them, not just the main players. And he does so with subtlety. You come to know Aurora through small actions—a look, a comment, a note of support for her son. Juliet is a hard nut of a secretary with little kindness, but she’s efficient, so she’s an asset to the firm and you know where you stand with her. It’s when she and Jasmine go toe-to-toe that you “meet and know" very well, too. And then there’s Wendell who is rather a stereotypical little rich boy with few scruples and ready to take advantage of anyone if allowed.

I found Jasmine to be the strongest of characters in the book. I envied her clear vision of right and wrong, which was exactly what Marcelo needed as he worked his way through the real world’s moral shades of gray. Stork injects both pathos and humor for his characters throughout the book, so you must care for them all in some way.

Stork’s language is perfect. And I fell into the story a lot of times because I was enjoying the way he revealed Marcelo. Here’s one of my favorites. “In some way, the strange-looking streets are simply a reflection of my thoughts. It seems perfectly natural to be lost outside when that’s the way I am inside. No landmarks anywhere.”

I was least satisfied with the ending. I didn’t want a neatly wrapped up ending with the rotten guys punished and good guys rewarded, but I wanted one beat more. For example, I wanted to see Wendell again without his privileged smirk. But overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
I was assuming this book would be about the struggles an autistic teen faced when forced out of his comfort zone--but it was so so much more. Instead of the surface-level day-to-day struggles the main character faced, which I had expected, the author surprised me by forcing him to deal with much more difficult issues such as moral dilemmas, which is a true struggle for someone with autism who tends to view things as strictly black and white, having trouble processing things that fall into a gray area. It was apparent hat Stork must have known someone (or several someones) personally who have struggled with this disorder in order to be able to write from the main character's POV without painting a stereotyped, stock character. This was very well done.
This is a story of courage, growth, and faith. Marcelo is high functioning autistic , and the story is told through his eyes. It was neat to get a glimpse of how his thought process works. He bravely leaves the sheltered environment of his special school to work a summer job in his father's law office--The real world. There he learns about love, hate, sin, forgiveness, and faith. I was drawn to Marcelo from the first and rooting for him to make it. This is an interesting, deep, and rewarding story of facing the unpleasantness in life head on and overcoming in spite of it. I highly recommend it.
3.5 Stars

Seventeen year old Marcelo (pronounced "Marselo") is described as having an "autism-like" condition. That's as close as doctors can come to defining his unique gift of being able to hear music where no one else can. Unfortunately for Marcelo, his father doesn't see anything particularly rare or special about his son's gift. Instead, the father pushes Marcelo to take a job in the mailroom of his law firm --- dad's reasoning being that the position will teach Marcelo useful skills about "the real world" and put him on the path to success, rather than let his mind run away with creative dreamer fancies.

Once in the mailroom environment, Marcelo meets and befriends the lovely Jasmine and Wendell, the son of one of the partners at the law firm. As his father anticipated, the first days were an experience for Marcelo, to say the least, as another "autism-like" trait that Marcelo displays is a struggle with interpreting facial expressions. But thanks to classes Marcelo attends to help him learn tips & tricks to help him out with this (instruction in voice inflection, speech patterns, and the like), it actually doesn't take him too long to find his way. It's a tough time for the reader though. We have to watch Marcelo navigate around co-workers who assume he's mentally incompetent, or those who try to bully or take advantage of him because he can't immediate recognize that he is being tricked. This is the "real world" his father so desperately wanted him to be a part of... thanks, dad!

Marcelo develops a love for religious texts and often turns to reading or reciting scripture to himself to calm his nerves when the world starts to overwhelm him. At one point, he finds himself unexpectedly caught up in one of his father's most important legal cases, one that will push Marcelo to fight for what he believes in, regardless of what others around him might say.

After being published in 2009, in 2010 this novel was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award for Teen Fiction, an award that recognizes fiction that focuses on characters with disabilities.

I've come across pages of glowing reviews for this one, and while I did very much enjoy it, I can't comfortably join the 5 star crowd here. The story had some dents for me. I loved Marcelo, the way his mind worked and his unique style of interacting with others even if he didn't (admittedly) always understand all the unspoken social cues. Something in that I found myself relating to quite a bit. His friendship with Jasmine is sweet & lovely and I found myself wishing he and Wendell could get on a bit better. So the characters undeniably spoke to me on some level. My trouble was with the writing. Some of the characters came off just a little too weirdly staccato in their speech and mannerisms for my enjoyment. The flow of things just felt a shade off from natural. In Marcelo's case it's understandable and almost expected, given that he's been diagnosed with a "autism-like" condition, but that doesn't explain the other characters!

Also, if I'm being honest with my reading experience... there was just something a little... lackluster maybe?... with the plot as a whole, as far as pace and plot action. I was all about this story in the early pages! Those first few chapters definitely had me hooked. But this was one of those books where I could feel my love and interest of it slowly trickling down instead of racing up. Reading pages on end and then realizing later, "you know, that was actually a whole lotta nothing going on"... and the book's not even that long! Still, I did quite like Stork's message here -- the way Marcelo finds his own voice in a sea of so many others telling him what he needs or what he should do --- it made me curious to try out some of Stork's other works just to compare, so I now have a couple on order. Even with the elements I myself found problematic, I would still solidly recommend this to anyone looking for YA reads featuring the theme of autism and enhanced abilities.