Middle Grade Reviews: Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz & The Pig War by Mark Holtzen

Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published: March 19th, 2013 by Roaring Brooks Press

Ages: 10 and Up

Source: ALAMW

Best friends Stephen and Marco attempt a go-for-broke heist to break into the high school prom and get Marco onstage to confess his love for (and hopefully steal the heart of) Benji, the adorable exchange student and bass player of the prom band.

Stephen and Marco (along with all of the side characters) are characters that really stand out and are incredibly memorable.  Stephen is the one telling the story in first person and Marco is his best friend.  Marco is a character that as soon as I started reading about him, I swore I knew him.  That there was a person in my life that was him.  But when I tried to figure out who that person was I drew a blank and I think really he's a combination of several people I knew and because he was so well drawn I just felt like I really knew him.  His personality really came through for me.


Stephen comes from a large family.  There are big kids and little kids and they are all very close.  Even though several of his siblings only make brief appearances I really felt the connection with this family.  I have seen this before in Hannah's books, she does a brilliant job in creating a family dynamic.  I wouldn't say that they are a normal family, exactly, but they are really easy to imagine and so easy to love.  It's not often we see a family that's really affectionate.  Where the siblings actually show their love for each other and hug and stuff.  I really like that.  And Marco is an only child, but not for long since his parents have gone to Japan to adopt a child.  He's not taking it well and it's clear he's quite spoiled.  He always gets his way and is very self focused.  He makes everything about himself.  That sounds bad, and while reading I had plenty of moments of being annoyed with him, but yet he's someone you can't help but feel affection for.

In the book Marco is determined to tell Benji he loves him at the high school prom.  We all know that is a ridiculously bad idea, right?  And on top of that  there have been hate crimes going on that are directed at Marco and Marco seems determined to ignore it while that's where Stephens focus mainly is, keeping Marco safe.  In this book we are with Stephen and Marco as they navigate their last moments as middle schoolers and a friendship that may be on shaky ground. 

This was a fast read and was pretty  interesting most of the way through.  I found myself really loving certain aspects of it but yet felt somewhat disconnected to it at the same time.  It's so hard to explain and I have tried to figure out what I didn't like.  Just at some points in the story I felt like bits were maybe rushed while other parts dragged on a bit.  And the ending while it surprised me, didn't leave me completely satisfied either.  I do think it's a very important story because how many middle grade books are there with a GLBT theme in them?  Not many.

I have been going back and forth on my rating for this one.  Parts of it would be 4 stars (family dynamic and characters being well drawn) while other parts would be 3 stars.  I suppose this is one I would give 3.5 stars to but I don't do half rating anymore so it's a debate about whether it's good enough to round up and I've decided it is because the whole time I was writing this review I was remembering how much I loved these characters.

I would recommend this to more mature middle grade boys and girls and people who search out GLBT themed books (though there's much more to it than that).

Disclosure: I received this book free of charge at ALAMW 2013.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

The Pig War by Mark Holtzen

paperback, 146 pages

Published: May 26th, 2012 by CreateSpace

Source: Author

When his parents send him to remote Mobray Island for a summer with his curmudgeonly grandfather, bookish Kell thinks his time is going to be a boring bust. But he and his boisterous sister Grace are quickly drawn into events from the island’s past—The Pig War of 1859. What was The Pig War? Did pigs actually fight? What if Kell and Grace are caught with the buried revolver they've uncovered? And why does their grandfather go fishing without his fishing gear? By summer’s end Kell learns that Mobray Island holds more adventure than he bargained for: shady ancestors, shadier neighbors, and even some discoveries about himself.

The Pig War is a middle grade contemporary adventure about Kell.  Kell is sent to stay with his grandfather on a island near the San Juan Islands (or one of them).  He doesn't know his grandfather, he'd never met him before and he's upset that he doesn't get to spend his summer doing what he had originally planned.  He's very upset about this change in plans and starts things out on a bad note.  On top of that his grandfather is not very welcoming or friendly and doesn't say much at all.  Kell and his sister Grace are left to find their own adventures each day.

While the story is pretty slow to unfold I found myself enjoying the view (so to speak).  I live in the Pacific NW and while I haven't visited the San Juan Islands, I have visited very near them and had a good idea of what the landscape would look like.  However, the descriptions are so well done that I actually was able to picture it all very well anyway.

The mystery was a tad underwhelming to me, but I enjoyed the history, when we finally got some.  While The Pig War was mentioned quite a few times we didn't many answers until later in the book. This may have had me flipping the pages a tad faster, but I think I could have used a bit more intensity to it all.  Anything that may have been underwhelming to me may work out fine for the targeted age group and boys in particular.  One thing I do like is that this shows that if you get outside and play you can find your own adventure anywhere.  In the time of video games and TV being the center of most children's lives, I enjoyed a book where there's not only no TV but also no inside toilet, etc.  Where they actually have to work to get through each day. 

I could point out a few things I was left wondering about, but I'm not sure how important they are.  I was wondering how everyone bathed and I know they wash dishes, but I had thought there was no running water, so did they heat it first, and where did it come from?  Another was that we know the grandfather never visited them because he never left the island (which I don't really know why, exactly) but why didn't their mother bring them to visit their grandfather?  I don't think most middle grade readers would necessarily notice all these things, but these were the questions I was left with.

I still enjoyed this story quite a lot and Kell's sister Grace did a great job of stealing the show.  She was a very bold little girl and very easy to imagine.  The sibling relationship was also done very well and quite realistically.  I recommend this to middle grade boys in particular.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.