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Gr 8-Up Like Christopher Boone, the protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Doubleday, 2003), Marcelo Sandoval is a high-functioning, extremely self-aware teenager with Asperger's syndrome. He has an empathetic mother and a father, Arturo, who appears to be less empathetic as he pushes Marcelo to live in the "real world." The form the real world takes is a summer job in the mailroom at Ar...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Seventeen-year-old Marcelo Sandoval marches to the beat of a different drummer—literally. He perceives internal music in his head; he is obsessed with religion; he has difficulty interacting with others—behaviors that place him at the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He is happy at Paterson, the special-education school he's attended since first grade, and life is comfortable. Then his father proposes an unwelcome deal: if Marcelo proves successful in "the real world" by working in the mailroom at his law firm...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Seventeen-year-old Marcelo is at the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. A summer job in the mailroom at his fat...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Earnest, intelligent, innocent, and funnier than he realizes, Marcelo Sandoval is a memorable narrator. His voice, unusually and charmingly formal for a teenager, is nevertheless emotive. Marcelo is hyperaware of his mental and emotional states at any given moment and gifted at describing them: “In my chest, I feel a twang—a discordant chord, like when the string on a guitar breaks in the middle of a song.” Marcelo’s eloquent articulation of his own thoughts and emotions stands in stark contrast to the often frustrating and awkward nature of his real-world...Log In or Sign Up to Read More