Messy, much like life

I just read my first book by Hannah Moskowitz and it is so dense I am still thinking about it.  I believe it is a book that should be read, and yet, I can't say I love it.  Much like the main characters in Marco Impossible, and much like life, there are the high points, the low points, and the things that get in the way.

Marco and Stephen have been best friends since they were little, and now they are poised to graduate 8th grade.  Their favorite pastime is solving "cases" for which Stephen is the keeper of the notebook.  Their friendship has survived many trials: Marco being a bit of a jerk sometimes, Stephen always playing sidekick, and even Marco coming out as gay.  Their friendship is put to the test in every possible way when Marco decides to declare his crush on fellow classmate Benji at all places, senior prom.  Marco plans to go to attend a different high school, and Benji is leaving the next day to spend the summer in England.  What has Marco got to lose? Their crime-solving becomes planning a "heist" that allows them to sneak into prom where Benji and his bothers are in the band.  Marco doesn't even know if Benji likes boys or girls!  All they need to do is sneak out, forge permission letters to gain entry, come up with money, transportation, and tuxes.... all in one day.  What could go wrong!?!

Themes of family, bullying, taking advantage of friends, and standing up for yourself and for others are handled in a very honest way.  The book also handles the "guys can be friends with gay guys and not be gay" question quite well.  I can truly say that nothing ever turned out the way I thought.  This should be a good thing, but, it also felt very disjointed.  This "disjointed" feeling was underscored by the writing style, which seemed very run-on and did not work well with the way I read.  I found I had to stop and re-read often.  This is why I have a hard time loving this book, but, have no trouble recommending it.  It's messy, much like life