Marcelo in the Real World

This is a good book. It could've been one of those “you're on the spectrum but you shouldn't be coddled, and ta-da now you're a productive member of society” kind of book, but this one surprised me.

Marcelo is pushed into the “Real World”, the working world, and is confused by all the unspoken rules, and understandably so. It plays on the trope of “foreigner trying to understand this strangers' land custom”, kind of critique on society. Marcelo is questioning all the rules in life that we take for granted, and it's quite interesting. The most major themes are Sexuality, Religion and Work Ethics. I love how the book portrayed the protagonists Asexuality, and him trying to figure out how it “works in the real world”. I've been noticing this trend whenever a teenage character is on the spectrum, the next question is, “what about their sexuality?”, and it's somehow expected of them to be Asexual (even though no studies have found any correlation between the two -but really not many studies have been made). So really, if you've ever been confused by Asexuality, i feel this book goes through all the facets of it. Also Marcelo is trying to figure out the different natures of love, and what it means to make the right or wrong decision.

Even though it's a YA book, it didn't feel like an adult condescendingly writing to teens, so major positive points for that, and pretty accurate description of a person with High Functioning Autism. Also major positive points, Marcelo evolves throughout the book, but without conforming and compromising himself.