* “Konigsberg demonstrates once again why he is one of the major voices in LGBTQ literature.” — Booklist, starred reviewMax: Chill. Sports. Video games. Gay and not a big deal, not to him, not to his mom, not to his buddies. And a secret: An encounter with an older kid that makes it hard to breathe, one that he doesn’t want to think about, ever.Jordan: The opposite of chill. Poetry. His “wives” … chill. Poetry. His “wives” and the Chandler Mall. Never been kissed and searching for Mr. Right, who probably won’t like him anyway. And a secret: A spiraling out of control mother, and the knowledge that he’s the only one who can keep the family from falling apart.
Throw in a rickety, 1980s-era food truck called Coq Au Vinny. Add in prickly pears, cloud eggs, and a murky idea of what’s considered locally sourced and organic. Place it all in Mesa, Arizona, in June, where the temp regularly hits 114. And top it off with a touch of undeniable chemistry between utter opposites.
Over the course of one summer, two boys will have to face their biggest fears and decide what they’re willing to risk — to get the thing they want the most.
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I really enjoyed this story of two young men on the brink of adulthood, each dealing with a difficult life situation. Being together gets each of them through a hard summer, joking on the surface and coping with tough stuff underneath.
Max has a great mom, a tight group of guy friends who know he’s gay, and his life seems pretty together. But one night he went home with an older guy he’d just met, and he’s not sure even now how to interpret what happened. Did he make choices? Not have choices? Is he too sensitive? All he knows is that even thinking back makes him a bit sick to his stomach. And yet in quiet moments, he can’t help remembering. So he’s glad of the distraction of meeting a new interesting guy and a summer job that isn’t boring office work. The busier he keeps, the less he has to think back…
Jordan is a poet, emotional and artistic, living with a mom who has been falling apart since his dad died. His mom tries, but he often feels like he’s required to be the adult in the household. She had a gambling problem for a while, and money got very tight, and although she’s working the steps and going to meetings, she’s not working a good job or earning enough to keep a roof over their heads. She’s also prone to bad choices and to mood swings, and depression. Jordan’s girl group friends are moral support, but not practical, and more curious than really helpful, and emotionally he’s pretty alone.
Jordan’s only hope for helping make the mortgage before they lose the house is a rickety food truck and trying to sell chicken on the street in a blazing hot Arizona summer. It seems impossible. Until a strange boy named Max, for some reason, seems to like him and is willing to add a practical touch and the ability to actually cook to the “Coq-au-Vinny” truck.
As the boys work together to get the food truck off the ground, to sell more than they spend, to not stretch the truth too far, and to survive the heat, they also begin to talk to each other about their lives. Attraction simmers, and gradually they start finding in each other the closeness they both crave. But Max’s bad experience lingers in his mind, and Jordan’s situation is still precarious, with his mother’s mental health a real concern. Getting through the summer will take more than just finding the right chicken recipe to make a buck.
I really enjoyed the banter between the guys in this one, and also the quiet moments when there was depth and pain lurking. Coming out is not a big issue here, which is great, as it leaves room for the other real issues these boys are coping with. Addressing things as tricky as consent, sexual assault, addiction, parental neglect and more is a challenge, and Konisberg hit a sweet spot for me, keeping it feeling real and nuanced, emotionally valid but not mined for angst. There are no cardboard villains here, and no one is perfect (although Max is a sweetheart.) The story is pretty well balanced, and while young love is real, it isn’t a cure-all. I look forward to a reread.
(Note some content trigger warnings for sexual assault, mental illness, parental neglect)
It’s a romance between opposites in this quirky up-beat tale of a confident, athletic Irish-Mexican guy who’s only out to his best friends and a somewhat nelly, very lean openly gay kid that attend the same high school.
The story is told in a back and forth chapter by chapter change of POV that works well here and allows us to learn parts of the story in a somewhat more realistic fashion than otherwise might have happened.
Because we see what both guys are thinking we can empathize with both and by the end we’re really pulling them to work through their differences and difficulties and make it work.
After reading several more depressing books, this was just the palate cleanser that I needed.
I recommend it.
I loved reading about these two very different gay teens who fall in love, who help each other become stronger, better people, and who help each other deal with traumatic events–one immature, addicted parent, and one sexual assault, as well as toxic masculinity and some racism. It felt like there was healing in the book, and tenderness, compassion, and love.
I found the food truck fascinating, the relationship beautiful, that there was one good woman/parent in the book good, and I didn’t want the book to end. I want a sequel!
Fantastic story of young love and the realities of life for gay men
A good read. Kept me smiling
This was both sweet and heart wrenching, and I’m glad I finally read it. Max was the sweetest and Jordan was actually kind of annoying, but they were both in awful, spiraling situations, so it was nice to see them get to know each other throughout that. I didn’t really like any of their friends and I questioned the reality of a few things that happened (mostly about the food truck and Jordan’s mom), but overall this was a moving book filled with a lot of humor.
Max is big and athletic and friendly and has a devastating smile. His parents and best friends know he’s gay, but they don’t know the big secret that’s seeping into his veins, eating him alive, because he’s overwhelmed by his not fully understanding what happened.
Jordan is hesitant and overly apologetic and slight and hides his thoughtful eyes. His dad is dead, his mom is worrisome, and he’s tasked with finding a way to earn enough money to save their home using only an old food truck.
This is a story about how the people who come into our lives can not only change us, but alter the relationships we had before they arrived. It’s about friendship, drive, seeing things differently. It’s about love and consent and respect.
It’s funny and moving and beautiful. I already miss this lovely boys, and wish them well as their story continues.
I love the writer, I was just a little bored. Would still recommend tho
I loved this book. The writing was done very well and I got so lost in this story.
I love our two main characters Max and Jordan. The big family dynamic of this book was something that I really loved and I liked seeing the contrast of Jordan’s home life versus Max’s home life.
Max is super cool and a character I loved the most and connected with a lot. He has a great relationship with his mother and she keeps him on the right track. You see how well she raised Max when Max doesn’t let himself get put into certain situations that would get him in trouble. I liked that. His relationship with his father is not so great, but Max really grows up at the end and realizes that we as children can’t keep giving our parents free passes. The beautiful thing about Max is that he sees Jordan. He acknowledges things about Jordan even he doesn’t see and takes his time with him to help him overcome things.
Jordan did not have his stuff together. I can’t really blame him after he lost his father and his mother has completely fallen apart. Jordan has the weight of the world on his shoulders and had it not been for Max, Jordan would have fallen apart. While is one who practiced his craft of cooking, Jordan kinda just went with the flow, causing a few things to go wrong because of it. I really felt for his character because his mom was a disappointment was clearly battling with a mental illness that affected her son. I loved seeing Jordan come alive when he was with Max. They are just so friggin cute. He was a better for having him in his life and the time they spent on the food truck was amazing.
I can’t explain how much I loved this book. The characters are both so amazing and Max touched my heart so deep, because as a man he was able to speak out to his mom, his closest friends, Jordan, and the perpetrator and publicly voice what happened to him. I balled my eyes out for his bravery. It truly touched me and I think the author handled this situation so well because he managed to voice the questions that go through anyone’s head who has been violated. The family aspect was something I loved and thoroughly enjoyed. The fact that this book is centered around these two boys working on a food truck was damn cool, you should read this book for that reason alone. Its just amazing and a must read.
I really enjoyed this and would happily shelve it next to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. The Music of What Happens has the same blend of painful youth, life lessons, and friendship. I loved the food truck adventures and was hungry pretty much the whole time I listened. I laughed and I cried (thankfully I was alone on the creek trail at this point). All the stars from me.
I’ve been a fan of Bill Konigsberg since he debuted with Out of the Pocket back in 2008. He’s a major inspiration for me for the types of young adult characters he creates as well as his talent as a storyteller. These two elements blend together perfectly in The Music of What Happens.
Max and Jordan are seventeen and opposites in every way–and boy do these opposites attract. Max is chill, pretty much a jock dude. He plays baseball, video games and cracks crude jokes with his buddies. He’s out to his mom and his friends, but not beyond that. Jordan is far from chill. He’s stressed that his mom hasn’t been the same since his dad died, he loves to write poetry and he’s got two great girl friends, who he refers to as his “wives.”
Jordan and his mom resurrect the food truck his dad owned because they have to do something to pay the mortgage on the house or they will be homeless. Max comes into Jordan’s life as he goes from food truck customer to chef. Max loves to cook and since he needs a job, he’s willing to help out. Jordan’s mom is all too happy to hand the entire operation over to the boys. You can imagine that this is probably not the best choice.
As the two pull together to get the truck working–including some loose interpretation on what organic and locally sourced ingredients means–they learn more about each other. For example, Max discovers Jordan’s poetry while Max reveals himself to be an artist.
As their relationship grows and the food truck begins to succeed, Max and Jordan help each other find their best selves. Jordan teaches Max about hooligan do goodery, where you do a random act of disruptive kindness. Max shows Jordan the advantages of working out and how it can help you de-stress. Through all of this they fall in love, even though neither can quite believe they’re falling for their opposite.
Both boys have tough issues to deal with though. Max’s father taught him that he must always warrior up, never cry, never show weakness, just smile and agree to get through the hard times. Super Max, as he refers to himself, can’t get him through everything though. A random hookup he had with a college guy haunts him to a breaking point.
Jordan’s home life has major cracks too as his mom continues to spiral and he doesn’t know what to do. Jordan doesn’t realize how much is at stake until it’s too late.
Bill pulls no punches in this book as he touches on so many things–loss of a parent, a parent’s inability to care for a child while their own world is falling apart, rape, the tolls of toxic masculinity and racism to name a few. It’s not all heavy though as Bill also vividly tells the story about the joy of falling in love with the right person and the strength that can be found in family and in good friends. Most of all it’s about finding your true self, embracing it and not hiding it.
Kudos to the narrators here. Joel Froomkin (aka Joel Leslie) and Anthony Rey Perez do a terrific job. I’ve long loved Joel’s work and here he’s in excellent form. He taps into Jordan joys, sorrow and fears while also giving great characterizations to his b.f.fs. Anthony’s voicing of Max revealed so much of the character’s self-doubt even while he portrayed Super Max to the world. Like Joel, Anthony brought Max’s friends to full life as well. Each narrator gets major props for handling each boy’s emotional scenes–Jordan with the collapse of his family and Max coming to terms with the fact he’d been raped–with a powerful perfection.