Stephen has always been the sidekick of the super-sleuth duo he shares with his best friend Marco. Now Marco is getting bullied for being gay, a nerd, and the being a fanatic detective, and Stephen is trying to do his best to solve this mystery behind his "boss's" back. It can be funny at times, and a good read, but Marco's personality will get in the way of many readers and he won't come off as a very likable character. Still, worth a read. ( )

Stephen has always been the sidekick of the super-sleuth duo he shares with his best friend Marco. Now Marco is getting bullied for being gay, a nerd, and the being a fanatic detective, and Stephen is trying to do his best to solve this mystery behind his "boss's" back. It can be funny at times, and a good read, but Marco's personality will get in the way of many readers and he won't come off as a very likable character. Still, worth a read. ( )

3.5 Stars

Marco Impossible is my second Moskowitz novel, and it could hardly be more disparate from Teeth. Sure, both have male first person POVs (interestingly, both are told from the perspective of the character you wouldn't expect to be the main character) and LGBT themes, but the mood and writing of the two pieces are so different. Marco Impossible is often frustrating, but ultimately so satisfying, sure to leave you with a smile on your face.

Why the book is titled Marco Impossible becomes apparent really quickly. Marco's a force to be reckoned with, and he'll steamroll anyone who gets in his way. He's tiny, he's loud, he's proud, and he's completely determined to declare his love to Benji, the hot British bass player he's been crushing on, before he transfers schools. In true Marco fashion, he can't tell Benji via a letter or in person at school; no, he has to make a dramatic gesture. Thus begins a complicated series of events as Marco and his best friend, Stephen, plan to break into the Prom, where Benji's band is playing, so Marco can confess.

Actually,though, the story is less about Marco's relationship with Benji than his relationship with Stephen. Benji and Stephen have been best friends for ages, partners in solving crime. Even their families are close, which is why Marco's staying with Stephen's huge family while his parents are in Japan adopting a baby girl. Lately, or maybe not just recently, Stephen's been feeling frustrated with their friendship, with being the sidekick, with being the straight man (both literally and figuratively) on the Marco Show.

Stephen supports Marco with everything and will even take hits for him (since not everyone's cool about Marco's being gay), but a lot of the time he can't really remember anymore why they're best friends. He hates that Marco never listens to him or takes his advice. For example, Marco is being a total brat about his new sister, because he likes being an only child. Stephen, who has five siblings of his own, keeps trying to convince Marco that he'll love his little sister, but Marco continues to whine endlessly.

What really has Stephen upset, though, is that Marco is leaving him behind. How can Marco go to some fancy prep school and leave Stephen alone? Stephen doesn't even know why he's going. It's one thing being just a sidekick, but now he feels like he's being abandoned by the hero. Throughout Marco Impossible, Stephen becomes more and more fed up with Marco, and the way Marco never wants the spotlight on anyone but himself and ignores Stephen's input and feelings. I was really surprised by how painful most of this book was to read, because I've had a lot of problems with friends in the past, and this just got me in the feels.

No worries, though, because the story does end in a happy place, which, normally, I might complain about, but it was just right for this middle grade story. Marco and Stephen needed to have a happy ending, or at least a happy closing to their heist. That said, I would have appreciated a little bit more closure on some of the familial plot lines, most especially Marco's issues with his family's changes.

Hannah Moskowitz tends to write darker novels, but she does an excellent job with this touching middle grade story. Marco Impossible is full of heart, focused on the difficulties of loving someone, even your very best friend. ( )

Guys, I can't tell you how much fun I had with this one. While it's spunky, charming, and utterly a blast to read, it's very different in tone when compared to Moskowitz's other effort that was published earlier this year, "Teeth" - at least, on the surface. Moskowitz has done the impossible - she's written a solid MG/young YA contemporary with tough stuff issues inside without entirely couching it in suicide or bullying (though there is some of the latter in this book). She redefines the 'tough stuff' genre with her own immense charm, and the last page will leave you not wanting to leave these characters or this world. If you're looking for a relatively lighthearted read that still deals with serious issues, make it "Marco Impossible".

Even though this is more of a comedic venture compared to "Teeth", there's still a huge, heavy heart to it at its center. What exactly constitutes the idea of growing up - does that mean leaving your favorite activities from childhood behind (in this case: detective work and heists)? Or does it mean leaving your old friends behind, so that you can start anew somewhere else? Or is it something different - does it mean looking at all of the relationships in your life and starting to make choices about them? All of these questions get looked at by Markowitz with her great MCs, Stephen and Marco, throughout the book. Marco has found his identity (or at least, has a head start), and is comfortable with it - but not everyone is comfortable with him. And that's a pretty common theme up until college, I think I can safely say. I feel like I identified a lot with both Stephen and Marco throughout the book for various reasons, and generally, I feel this book is pretty important to the late MG/early YA crowd to which it's aimed.

Even throughout the Great Benji Heist (as I started calling it in my head whilst reading), there's a lot of things that become clear very quickly in terms of the tough stuff arena. There's bullying that goes on, though Marco seems (keyword - seems) oblivious to, only wanting to get his man. There's hate crimes that get involved. And finally, there's the undeniable issue of losing one's best friend because he's going to switch schools. But does that mean you're really losing your best friend should that happen? While that isn't explicitly addressed, by the end of the book, we kind of have our answer. And all of this is going on while Marco obsesses and puts his great heist plan into action.

There's also something wonderful that Markowitz touches upon that usually gets the 'abusive significant other' routine when talking about it in YA - healthy relationships. Stephen really starts questioning whether or not staying with Marco is for the best for himself, and whether or not he should continue the farce of the heist when he's getting too fed up, too angry, and too worried about Marco's welfare to continue. I'm so glad this was touched upon in terms of friends (and best friends) - because I know I had some VERY unhealthy relationships at Marco and Stephen's age, and recently, it's not like our current culture is really promoting those very well. So it was nice to see that looked at.

The technical aspects of this book were flawless, so I won't really go into them aside from a bit of commentary of the worldbuilding: Markowitz successfully worldbuilds only using school and the atmosphere and constant action of the heist (and hate crime) itself, which I've never really seen happen before. She builds her world with her characters, and that was really something to behold. An unusual technique, but it really worked.

Final verdict? Definitely one of the more important late MG/young YA books to come out this year, "Marco Impossible" is tons of fun, but also covers very important ground in terms of young tween/teenage life. Definitely one of the best of 2013 so far and highly recommended, "Marco Impossible" is out March 19, 2013 from Macmillan in North America, so be sure to check it out when you get the chance!

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, librarything, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com) ( )