Marcelo really wants to spend his last year of high school at Patterson, a school for students a lot like him. Students who need a little extra help learning the rules of the Real World, and who can spend extra time thinking about the things that they are really interested in. But Marcelo’s father gives him an ultimatum; spend the summer in the Real World, working in the mailroom of his law firm, or go to public high school for his senior year.

Marcelo is assigned to the mailroom and works with Jasmine, who is as beautiful as she is mysterious, and Wendell, the son of his father’s partner. While he’s there he finds a picture of a girl who has half a face, and is drawn to her. Its that picture that draws him in to a legal mystery and very dangerous ground with his father and his firm.

Marcelo in the Real World has an interesting mystery element to it but I was mainly drawn to Marcelo, who sees the world with uncorrupted eyes. His story draws you in instantly and you can’t help rooting for him as he navigates the very tricky Real World.