Marcelo in the Real World

by FRANCISCO X. STORK

Marcelo Sandoval doesn't think like most people.  He struggles in social situations and can't always read the emotions and motivations of others.  Marcelo has a mild version of autism called Asperger's Syndrome, and although he is an extremely bright and knowledgeable 17 year-old, he just can't function well by himself and has always gone to a special school called Paterson.  There, Marcelo works with the school's ponies, a job he loves.  In fact, he has plans to work all summer with the horses, before his senior year begins.  Unfortunately, Marcelo's father, a high-powered attorney in his own law firm, has other ideas.  He wants Marcelo to work in a place where he will be challenged to learn new skills.  He wants him to work in "the real world," in his law firm's mail room for the summer.  The deal is that if Marcelo is successful in the mail room, he can choose where he wants to go to school for his senior year, instead of going to the local public high school where his father wants him to go.

       

          The person in charge of the mail room is Jasmine, a girl not much older than Marcelo.  She is not happy that Marcelo has been assigned to her, but soon grows to understand and even love Marcelo.  Marcelo is pure of heart, and has had little contact with evil in the world.  If there's anyplace where one can learn fast about evil, it's in a law office.  Marcelo hasn't been there long before he is confronted with mean people, evil situations, and moral challenges.  Jasmine helps him navigate these new waters as much as she can, but Marcelo has to meet many of these challenges on his own.  He has difficult choices to make that could ultimately hurt his father, the law firm, and even himself, but he finally makes the right decisions with admirable courage.  Marcelo in the Real World is a wonderful coming of age story with a unique hero it's impossible not to admire.  This book is on the 2010-2011 Tayshas list.

                  ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams

Three
Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Of the hundreds, maybe thousands of books I've read in my lifetime, few have touched me more than this book about the change one man has made for children in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, all during a time of great turmoil among various Islamic groups, and then later, during America's "war on terror" after 9/11.  Greg Mortenson, a missionary kid who grew up in Africa, went to northern Pakistan in 1993 with the intent to climb K2, the second highest peak in the Himalayas.  Besides the challenge of the climb itself, his motivation was to place a bead bracelet which had belonged to his younger sister on the peak in her memory.  Greg's attempted climb was a failure, and in a severely debilitated physical condition, he stumbled into a desperately poor mountain village where the people cared for him for weeks.  As he got to know these humble but proud people, he realized that this village had no means of educating its children.  During the warm months, students gathered on an outcropping of rock, sat on the ground and did their lessons on slates or with sticks in the mud, often without a teacher.  At that point, Greg Mortenson changed the focus of his life and left  Pakistan with the intention of raising enough money in America to come back and build Korphe village a school.  To make this happen, Greg lived in his car or a storage building while working as a nurse, so that he could save every possible penny for the school.  He didn't own a computer, so he hand typed hundreds of letters to the rich and famous, soliciting funds for his school.  His personal sacrifice for children half a world away, was something most of us can't even imagine, much less do ourselves. Yet, today Greg Mortenson has been instrumental in building scores of schools for children, especially girls, who would never have had an opportunity to get an education, but for him.  It's not possible to read this book without being challenged to think about what we all should be doing to promote peace and help those who have little ability to help themselves.  Three Cups of Tea is a must-read.
        Reviewed by Mrs. Sams