Wow, just chills after reading this beautiful queer book written from the two different points of views from two beautiful Black girls who go to a camp and end up being bunk mates. This story touches upon some big themes like anxiety, hurting yourself to feel something, death or a parent and even falling in love. This is a beautiful and captivating story that drew me in from start to finish. Andi, Zora and Christopher are my favs!

The image of camp created here is wonderfully in-depth. This book skillfully navigates heavy topics; loss of a parent, coming out to friends, and harming yourself due to pressure. We see these through the eyes of Andi and Zora, who are both attending Harmony Music Camp. They realize as they are the only two black kids at camp, that they need each other more than they think. Their friendship grows and brings such hope for these characters.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Sweet, sad, and hopeful. Andi is dealing with the grief of losing a parent while trying to fit into a new family dynamic, Zora is struggling with self-harm and high, mismatched parental expectations, and both are working hard to understand their creative needs and to express themselves artistically, as one of a very few Black kids attending a prestigious music camp. This is just a small number of the many pretty heavy topics covered in this book, but all the issues in the novel appear and are covered organically and with love and care, and at a level totally accessible to middle grade readers.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an electronic arc in exchange for an honest review.

In the Key of Us skillfully navigates heavy topics like losing a parent, coming out to friends, and harming yourself due to the pressures of pursuing perfection. The book switches between the perspectives of young black tweens, Andi and Zora, who both attend Harmony Music Camp. Andi isn't classically trained but she plays her instrument with heart and soul. Zora is great at playing the flute but she would much rather be dancing even though her body shape is different from the ones you would normally see in a dance studio. The friendship between Andi and Zora is a joy to read and both characters are fully-developed and rootworthy.

Andi and Zora are sent to music camp for the summer. Andi is coping with the loss of her mom, while Zora is trying to please her parents and make first chair when she would rather be studying dance. Zora sees Andi, the other black girl at camp, and as time passes Andi makes Zora feel out of order. Could she like like her? As the girls help each other with the struggles of growing up, they help each other realize “we’re still growing and we get to mess up.”

In the Key of Us is told through alternating perspectives of the two main characters, Andi and Zora. Both are attending a prestigious music camp for the summer. As the summer progresses both girls deal with their traumas and fears and eventually, their feelings for each other. This is a great book for any middle grade readers who like emotional realistic fiction. The characters feel very fleshed out and their growth by the end of the book is earned.

In the Key of Us tells the story of two middle-school girls who arrive at a prestigious band camp in Michigan for the summer. While both are talented, earning acceptance into the camp, both carry heavy burdens that threaten to topple them. Andi Byrd is a trumpet-player from Detroit and a first-timer at camp. When her mother died in a car accident, she was taken in by her aunt and uncle who live a very different lifestyle than her free-spirit mother. Saddled with anger and guilt over her mother's death, Andi acts out, earning a suspension from school and the concern of Aunt Janine and Uncle Mark. She comes to camp with a hard edge, lowest in the camp rankings and even lower in confidence and hope.

Zora is a gifted flautist from Ann Arbor. The only child of college professors, her life seems scripted in every detail, and she knows that she must earn first chair in flute throughout the summer to meet her parents' expectations. She is used to the heavy weight of their standards, so used to it, that she has turned to hurting herself as a coping strategy. When the pressure is too great, she scrapes her legs, beats her arm with a fist, or pinches herself in places no one will see. When she suspects that she likes girls, the additional pressure rocks her carefully ordered world.

As the only black girls at camp, Andi and Zora are often grouped together by well-meaning teachers and friends, but they have no desire to form a friendship, until they see the hurt in each other and know they can help. Their relationship confuses them, so they keep it a secret, but as the weeks pass and the final concert approaches, they are struggling to manage their confusing new feelings, their fears about their families, and the realization that you cannot be everything to everyone.

As a novel for young people, Lockington has written a well-plotted story with real characters. Both Andi and Zora are brave, resilient, and disciplined. They set goals and work to meet them, and they rebound when they fail. They show kindness to people who are hurting or alone, and they work hard to learn about the world around them and how to navigate it. They are well developed characters with complex traits. One minute, readers are frustrated with Andi's hard, city edge, and the next, they cheer for her compassion and gentleness. Zora's perfect shell seems unbreakable, but when readers see the hurt beneath the shell, she feels real and authentic. The plot of the story is logical, well paced, and realistic. The setting of band camp will appeal to many young readers, as will the social pressures and the struggle to meet expectations.

The concern that some readers, or more likely their parents, will have is the emphasis on sexuality. After Andi kisses her, Zora thinks about her first kiss as if it is a natural and expected event, but at twelve, many readers will not have had their first kiss, regardless of whether it is with a boy or a girl, Even back home, Zora's friend Kennedy was focused on boys to the detriment of their friendship, and Zora expresses her romantic interest in Kennedy, sending their friendship into a spiral. Some of the girls in the cabin are enraptured by high school boys, and at times, the author describes the older kids making out, While middle grade readers are managing difficult emotions and discoveries, they are still children, and some parents would be concerned about the unspoken expectation that kissing and making out are normal, expected actions for twelve year olds.

As a work of middle grade literature, In the Key of Us is enjoyable, well written, and realistic. Parents may choose to pre-read it or read it along with their children to discuss the sexual implications and expectations.

I love reading middle grade novels about children who've lost parent(s) - reading about shared trauma experiences is healing and I would have liked to read more books like this as a kid!

The summer band camp setting is fun. The main cast of characters being made up of POC is fantastic. The interludes of poems from the camp's perspective was interesting and unique. The dual perspectives from Andi and Zora balanced each other out nicely.

This was gorgeous. I loved both of these girls and their journey alone and together. I've been a Mariama fan since FOR BLACK GIRLS LIKE ME, and this one will definitely have a permanent place on my shelves, too.