Hen Birnbaum is an average high schooler who plays bass in his girlfriend’s band and spends lots of time watching VH1 with his neighbor. But his family is not quite as it seems — his older sister, Sarah, has been missing for a year. Though his parents seem to know something about what’s going on, they insist that Sarah needs to be the one to tell Hen. So when Sarah returns without a word of explanation and asks Hen to take bass lessons from her friend Gabriel, Hen is not sure how to handle things. And as the novel progresses, neither is the reader.

There are far too many things happening in this novel. Hen’s relationship with Petra, who fronts the band first called PETRA and later called Dawson’s Freak; Hen’s friendship with the next door neighbor girl, Emma; Sarah’s sudden appearance and subsequent re-disappearance; Sarah’s attempt to keep in touch with Hen via Facebook during her second disappearance (hence the title of the novel); Hen’s reading of Gabriel’s manuscript which may or may not be autobiographical; Hen’s relationship with his parents, who seem oddly strict with their son despite their daughter’s sporadic absences. A confusing mishmash of potentially interesting storylines. ( )

I really loved this book. In a way, it reminded me of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, partly because there were a lot of music references, but mostly it was the style. Ehrenhaft's book didn't take place in one night, but it was fast paced and everything flowed as if it had. The story's strong and intriguing, both Hen's life and the mystery of his sister's disappearance. But right near the end there was a twist in his personal life that was so satisfying that I wouldn't have minded if the book ended there without solving the mystery of Sarah's (his sister) vanishing. We do get resolution, though, and it's also quite satisfying. There was something not quite realistic about this book, like with Nick & Norah, but that just made it all the more awesome. In some ways (also like Nick & Norah) it was almost like reading a book version British tv show Skins (the first season). I think I'm going to have to check out more of Ehrenhaft's YA books, if only to find out if they're all this good and fun. ( )

Let's start with the positives shall we? I always like to get off on a good foot. This book is pretty funny. Plain and simple there are parts in this book where I found myself laughing out loud, "Hen" or Henry, the main character, is witty and ridiculous at times. He tends to surround himself with other characters of the same magnitude, and watching them interact with one another can be pretty hilarious.

I also very much enjoyed the multiple pop culture references in the story, especially Henry's love for the 90's and all the nostalgia there within. Bands, television shows, it was all there in its truly cheesy 90's glory. Truthfully I began to get a little peeved near the end at how many times Facebook was mentioned, however I know this to be true to life. I can't count how many times I've been at a bar and heard that word thrown around. Yes, it's pop culture and yes it's here to stay. Daniel Ehrenhaft's mention of these items did help me form a connection with the characters as I read.

However this is where my love for the book ended. Although I found Henry to be funny at times, I mainly found him to be awkward and obnoxious. His incessant side notes to himself (set off like this) throughout the book were endearing at first, and then became extremely distracting. Henry's sole focus in this story was to be a rock star, and it seemed to me like it was a little forced. He knew he wasn't good at bass, and yet he continued to convince himself that that was what he needed to be happy. In Henry's mind, stardom = money = happiness and I just couldn't get behind that. Maybe it's just me, but I really thought he could have directed his confusion and family angst into something more worthwhile.

As for his sister Sarah and her story, the entire first half of the story had me wondering out loud when I was going to get to find anything out about her disappearance. There were no clues, no hints, her parents didn't even seem fazed when she showed up out of nowhere. I was also so frustrated at how uncaring she seemed and how distant. She was Henry's sister after all, doesn't that afford them some kind of confidence? As the book neared the end and I finally unraveled the mystery behind Sarah's disappearance, I began to wonder why it was all such a big deal. Why couldn't Henry's parents have shared that with him? It just seemed like extremely poor parenting to me.

Overall this was a book that just irked me too much to really appreciate it. There were high points and low points, but sadly the things I disliked really weighed in strongly. More than once I had to resist simply giving up on reading this book, and that made me sad. It's not often that I find a book I have that much trouble reading. I think that this book has great potential, but that the quirkiness makes it a difficult read. Perhaps there are those out there who will think differently than me and if so, great! Let me know what you think in the comments if you have read this book already. ( )

Can guys and girls be friends? When his sister Sarah runs away, her brother is lost and turns to his best friend for help. ( )

This review was originally posted on my review blog : http://fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com

Henry "Hen" Birnbaum has been going through a lot this year, and it hasn't all affected him for the better. When his sister Sarah first ran away a year ago, it really tore him up. All he knew was that she did something she wasn't supposed to do, and was now a fugitive of the law. His own parents won't even give him the run-down on what his sister has done, although they know perfectly well what it was. Needless to say, Hen is tired of being considered a child, he's 16-years old now, and has the right to know some things.

The night his sister decides to return to the family, Hen's life gets worse. His girlfriend, and the leader of their band PETRA, breaks up with him in the middle of the rain, and then continues to boot him from his position as the band's bass player. It's okay though, because he never really could play the bass very well anyway. When he arrives home and finds a note from his parents claiming they've gone to pick up his sister Sarah, Hen can't believe it. He can't decide whether he's truly happy to see his sister, or still infuriated with her for leaving without even saying good-bye.

Things between him and Sarah are weird now, especially since she still won't tell him what's going on. When her friend and fellow fugitive, Gabriel Stern, offers to give him bass lessons, Hen decides to take them in hopes that Gabe will slip up and tell him what is going on. Instead it seems Gabe is more worried about Hen admitting to feelings towards his best friend, Emily Wood, that he's not even sure are really there. Emily has always been next door, and she knows just about everything about him, but can there be more to their relationship than Hen thinks?

I really liked Hen's character from the very first page. He may have been a little depressing at times, but he was extremely quick-witted and had the tendency to make me giggle. I could understand why Hen was angry at his sister Sarah for leaving, and then returning without giving him an inkling toward her reasons. On the other hand, I think he could have been a little more happy to see her, especially if he missed her as much as he claimed.

There was a lot of characters in this book, and believe it or not, despite how short it is you learn a lot about each and everyone of them. My favorite character was probably Emily, even though there were a few times that I wanted to wring her neck because of the things she was doing. She was all around good-hearted, and despite some of the things she did, they were always for the benefit of others.

My least favorite character was Petra, the ex-girlfriend. She wasn't really that bad actually, but it seemed that if you weren't cool, she wanted nothing from you. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree though, if you ask me, because her father wasn't really any better. Both characters are nice to those around them, but in the limelight of things you feel like your just not up to their standards the more you read about them.

The mystery of Hen's missing sister hovered over this entire plot, while it wasn't always front and center. Hen almost always had it on his mind, despite the fact that he tried his hardest to just leave it alone. The funny thing is, the answer to the mystery was in front of both Hen's, and the readers face the whole time, you just didn't know it. I was completely surprised when I found out Sarah's story at the end of this book, and actually slapped my knee because I was too silly to figure it out earlier on.

All around this was a great book. You learn a lot about Hen, and his friends. Despite the lack of appearance from his sister, Sarah, she is one of the main focus points of this novel. Even though you get to watch Hen grow as a teenager, and learn more about himself and those around him, you still find yourself wondering what his sister could have done to get herself into so much trouble. I'll more than likely be reading more books by Daniel Ehrenhaft in the future, because I loved his writing. I even liked that it was narrated from Hen's point of view. I'm usually not into books narrated by male characters, but his one was written perfectly, and it made me feel like I really knew Hen, sometimes better than he knew himself. ( )