Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Do you ever get the feeling that you somehow think differently than other people do? Well, 17 year-old Marcelo has that feeling all the time, since he has what his father would call a "cognitive disorder" similar to Asperger's syndrome. Marcelo hears what he calls "Internal Music" in his head, and it tends to affect how he perceives and interacts with the world around him. Marcelo enjoys his unique life: sleeping in a tree house, attending a special school, helping to care for therapy ponies and indulging his interest in religious philosophy. However, his father thinks Marcelo should be more engaged in what he calls "the real world", so Marcelo must work at his father's law firm for the summer. As Marcelo is thrust into this corporate environment that is completely foreign to him, he must deal the confusing world of office politics as well as his feelings about an ethically troublesome lawsuit and his intriguing co-worker Jasmine. Marcelo learns some important lessons about the challenges and rewards of the "real world" and the value of his own perspective.

If you enjoy Marcelo in the Real World, you may also want to check out The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time or Look Me in the Eye (reviewed earlier on this blog).