One Book, One School

1. One Book, One School

2. 2011 Summer Reading This summer all students and faculty will be reading the book Marcelo in the Real World. The book was written in 2009 by Francisco X. Stork. The following slides provide a summary of the story. The summary is from The New York Times – Sunday Book Review.

3. Marcelo has been raised in a protected environment in suburban Boston. His parents allow him to live in an electrified tree house and attend a private school for disabled kids where he takes courses in “social interaction” and works with therapy ponies. “The closest description of my condition is Asperger’s syndrome,” Marcelo says. He doesn’t really have A.S., he says, but he understands that other people are more comfortable with medical labels. What do you know about Asperger’s Syndrome? If you have questions or want to learn more Asperger’s Syndrome, click the following link http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/mental-health-aspergers-syndrome

4. His father, Arturo, a hard-driving Mexican-American who was at the top of his Harvard Law class, thinks Marcelo is unnecessarily stuck in a comfort zone that is not preparing him for “normal” life. He strikes the deal that propels the story: If Marcelo lasts the summer in the competitive hurly-burly of his law firm’s mailroom and follows “the rules of the real world,” he will allow Marcelo to return to his safe-harbor school for his senior year. Otherwise, it’s the big public high school. What do you think about Marcelo’s dad’s decision about his senior year?

5. The novel takes off as morality tale and legal thriller when Marcelo discovers that the firm’s main client is continuing to produce a windshield that has already seriously injured dozens of people, one of them a girl Marcelo’s age. In organizing the law firm’s files, Marcelo finds a photo of her ruined face. He feels the stirrings of empathy, his emotional coming-of-age. The client refuses to pay for the girl’s surgery. Somewhere in the files is a clue proving that the client knew the windshield was defective. What would you do if you were Marcelo in this situation? What do you think Marcelo will do?

6. Summer Reading Requirements Each student is required to read Marcelo in the Real World over the summer and be prepared to discuss the story, as well as write about the story, upon returning to school in August.