The Music of What Happens

by Bill Konigsberg

[Sam@WLABB]

After a night he wanted to forget, Max stumbled upon a food truck owner having a meltdown, who happened to be the mother a his classmate, Jordan. In the blink of an eye, he found himself hired to work on the truck alongside Jordan. Though he knew nothing about the business, Max was determined to to use his love of food to make this thing work. They may have gotten off to a rocky start, but soon, a genuine friendship developed between the two, and things were looking up for their summer.

The root of this story was the friendship and eventual romantic relationship between Max and Jordan, but there was so much more packed into this fun and moving story. There are a mix of heavy and light topics, but what won me over was the romance, the friendship, the food truck, and the growth experienced by these young men.

Both boys were dealing with some weighty personal issues, and together, they were able to push through. By opening up and being vulnerable, they were able to face their problems head-on. Their upbringing was drastically different. Jordan had a dad, who accepted him for who he was, while Max's father reeked of toxic masculinity, and Max was conflicted with the messages sent by his father about who he should be and how he should be.

Over the course of the summer, both boys were forced to do a lot of growing up. They learned the art of self advocacy and were forced to make difficult choices. They learned to be honest with themselves and their loved ones. They learned they didn't have to carry their pain alone, and that it was ok to share the load with others. Their growth was tremendous, and I was happy they were able to push each other in the right direction.

The food truck was my second favorite thing in this book. I loved being on the truck with these two. It started out quite chaotic, but it was fantastic watching them get a handle on things, and I was cheering them on. It was a pleasure seeing Max use his secret culinary skills to propel the truck to success.

I saved the best for last - the romance. Wow! I loved Jordan and Max together. It was cute seeing them noticing each other, and getting to hear their thoughts, before the other had any clue there was a mutual attraction. They were so sweet and insecure, and it was fun waiting for them them act on their feelings. But, the most satisfying parts came, when they were really invested in each other. They shared a lot of beautiful and tender moments, which melted my heart.

This book had me feeling so many things - heartbreak, anger, sadness, disappointment, warmth, and joy, and I was thrilled to go through this range of emotions with Jordan and Max.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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