"He is remembering," I say.
"Remembering what?"
"It's a word I use for praying. Sometimes it's like waiting for music to come out of the silence.
Marcelo, a high-functioning autistic seventeen-year old, has always heard music no one else can hear, has always thought a lot about God, and has always attended a special school where his "differences" have been protected. However, the summer before his senior year, his father challenges Marcelo to experience "the real world" by working in his law firm's mail room. Marcelo does not want to go, but he does not really have any choice in the matter.
Out in the "real world" of the law firm, Marcelo meets Jasmine and Wendell, discovers truths not told, and begins to learn hard lessons about jealousy, desire, anger, and injustice.
I thought Marcelo in the Real World was an excellent read – the story read quickly and Marcelo’s narration was completely absorbing. Marcelo’s internal music and some of the questions he raises about his place in the world reminded me of Elizabeth Moon’s The Speed of Dark and I think if you enjoy one you will enjoy the other.
(There’s a great article on the Papercuts blog @ The New York Times which covers all the “real” music mentioned in Marcelo in the Real World -- I have to admit I was so taken with the description of Erik Satie Gymnopédies that I bought a recording).
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (Scholastic, 2009)