The Music of What Happens
Publisher
Arthur A. Levine Books
Publication Year
2019
ISBN
9781338215502
Pages
352 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
It is summer in Phoenix, and seventeen-year-old Maximo offers to help Jordan, a fellow student in high school, with the food truck that belonged to Jordan's deceased father, and which may be the only thing standing between homelessness for Jordan and his mom; the boys are strongly attracted to each other, but as their romance develops it is threatened by the secrets they are hiding--and by the racism and homophobia of those around them.
Grade Level
9-12
Lexile Measure
HL670L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Racial Diversity; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Disability and Health; Single Parent; Family member death; Divorce; Biracial; Interracial; Gay/Lesbian; Addiction; single mother; death of a father; divorced parents; biracial teenager; interracial relationship; gay; gay teenager; same-sex relationship; gambling addiction; parent with an addiction
Main Character
male teenagers
Race/Ethnicities
Latinx (Mexican) / White
Family Formation
single mother
LGBTQ+
gay males
Awards
Booklist Book Review Stars, 2018
Keywords
food truck; cooking; Phoenix, Arizona; summer; sexual assault; masculinity; secrets; summer job; baseball
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Konigsberg, Bill, "The Music of What Happens" (2019). Diverse Families. 1783.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1783