Music of What Happens

4.5 stars. Just an incredibly lovely, heartwarming and heartbreaking story of a month in the life of two very different teenage boys who fall in love while working together on a food truck during a hot Arizona summer. They both have secrets they don't want to share; Max had a troubling encounter with an older boy that he doesn't want to label because he's used to being cool and in control of things, and Jordan's mom has been struggling emotionally since the death of his dad and he has taken on a caretaker role that he can't quite handle. So while on the surface this is your basic “emo guy and dude bro jock guy slowly open up to each other” romance, it's also about how they relate to their friends and parents, and how their growth means learning what they can handle by themselves, what they can share with each other, and when to call in the cavalry when it's beyond their ability to deal.

The dialogue rang true to me, unlike a lot of YA fiction that makes the teens sound preternaturally adult. It's funny, sweet, snarky and occasionally tragic. And it also felt real to me that at the end nothing has been tied up with a red bow; the boys are happily together, but there is a lot unresolved in their respective lives and I don't even think they have even said “I love you” yet. That could mean that Konigsberg plans a sequel, but the book doesn't need one. The story and the character arcs feel complete even if we don't know exactly what happens next.

I loved this book, and suspect I will re-read it soon to savor it more slowly.