A heartfelt little story written in lyrical verses, following the life of a young girl. Very easy to read because of the short verses, but that doesn’t make the story any less important. It is POC, it is queer, it is music and love, and it tackles themes like friendship, family, grief and general changes in life from the POV of a child very delicately and realistically.

Would be perfect for mature kids who wants to read realistic novels but might not be that good of a reader yet. Also suitable for adults who simply wants a non-difficult story to read that still has something on mind and with a deeper meaning as well. I enjoyed it a lot.

After a bit of a slow beginning, The Order of Things became a completely engaging story affecting all of my emotions.

April gets a drum set for Christmas, and her best friend Zee gets a violin. April is excited to learn, but at her age, her practice and seriousness with the drums is on and off. Zee is from a family of New Orleans musicians, and is nearly a violin prodigy, practicing all day, every day.

It’s the eve of entering middle school and Zee will be attending a Boston STEAM charter school focusing on the arts. For this reason, April and Zee now go to different schools, but they still see each other every day, having lived across the hall from each other in their apartment budling since childhood.

One day, Zee passes out in music class at school. He’s checked out by a doctor and released. He continues to practice his violin with extreme vigor, as his music is one of the most important things to him in life. April witnesses a couple of his near fainting spells first hand but Zee makes her promise not to tell and she honors his wish and regrettably so, as later in the book, Zee goes into sudden cardiac arrest. This is a rare condition, but it does happen to young people.

After the loss of Zee, and this point is not a spoiler, as it is in the book blurb, April struggles to find friendship in her classmate Asa, or joy in playing the drums. All this is complicated by her mom dating a new woman. Zander, Zee’s father goes into mourning his son letting everything in life slide. April tries to cover for Zee’s father by attempting to deliver the backlog of mail he has failed to deliver and is amassing in a closet.

There are too many things all happening so fast with what feels like little time to mourn or consider her own dreams and it finally catches up to April.

Here we have brilliant novel-in-verse that explores friendship, and how to deal with grief for a middle grade audience, ending with the challenge to always follow your dreams.

The cover art is perfectly indicative of how I’d picture April.

This beautifully written middle-grade novel takes us on a journey of exploration as a young girl navigates life after loss.

April and Zee are best friends - one loves to play drums, the other the violin. September rolls around and April goes back to their regular school, while Zee goes to a school for musicians to take his violin playing to the next level. When Zee dies very unexpectedly, April needs to figure out how to move on and live her life without him by her side.

I thought this was a beautifully written novel that kids who have experience a sudden tragic death or change could connect with.

I have had a bad week in my new house ( it involved a lot of water on the floor and a hole in the ceiling). Perhaps not the best week to read about children dying and grief. Strangely enough this book made me feel a lot better. It made me cry ( maybe just what I needed) but strangely uplifted too. April even when crushed by her grief for the loss of Zee , is a strong lead character and very relatable. I read this alone but will share it with my older grandchildren, I think that they will love it too. The language is lyrical almost hypnotic. A triumph.

A great read that entails a friendship of two pre-teens that have a love and talent for music. A sense of community among these two friends and their singe parent upbringing is beautifully written. A death occurs that changes their lives and you come to see how each character deals with such grief. A new friendship, learning to speak up and follow your passion are all topics that one can learn and discuss with this book.

Hold onto your hearts with this book. As I opened to the first page, I was instantly taken with the lyrical verse and utterly relatable characters, 11-year old April and her best friend, Zee. These two best friends live across the hall from each other and have a shared love of music, a love that takes Zee to a new charter school away from April. As they each work to find their own way in their new situations, April learns about what it means to have a passion, to not judge others and to find a new way forward, when needed. Grab your tissues, everyone.

What could be better than a book about a middle school girl who longs to be an accomplished drummer? Her best friend who lives across the hall is already an accomplished violinist. The two families have become one over the years and an untimely death of one of the main characters shows how differently each of the remaining family members deals with grief.

I think this book will hit home with anyone who has ever had a dream, and how to shift gears when the dream doesn't become reality in the way that we planned.

April Jackson was a great main character, I really felt for her and her story. It worked well overall and I was glad the story was just as good as it should. It dealt with more adult topics and was perfectly done. Kaija Langley writes beautifully and I’m glad I got to read this.

#The Order of Things #Death #Grief #music
This insightful middle school story touches on some heavy topics, most especially the loss of someone close and the ensuing grief, both by the protaganist, April, and the adults around her. The story in verse creates a pacing that engages the reader, but moves the story forward without glossing over her emotions and how she deals with them.

6th grader April has lived with her mom in the apartment across from Zee and his dad since they were young. This is the first year April and Zee aren't in school together as he starts at a charter school for the arts. Zee is an extremely promising and motivated violinist. April dreams of playing the drums. But life is complicated. April's mom starts dating a woman, April is trying to figure out what is going on with one of her classmates, and April is keeping a secret for Zee. Keeping that secret ends in tragedy. This novel-in-verse tells a big story with few words. This book is extremely sad, but also hopeful.

4.5 stars

This story was about change, specifically change in middle schooler April's life. Her best friend from birth is going to a different school, her mom, for the first time, seems interested in someone, her new friend at school seems to have the most abysmal attendance, and she's decided she wants to really learn how to play the drums. From the blurb, you know what happens and her life is turned upside down.

I went back and forth with the rating but finally decided to round down. I think what would truly have made it 5 stars would have been if I hadn't known what was going to happen before I started reading it and if I had listened to it read instead. When it comes to poetry and verse, I prefer listening rather than reading. This story is particularly suited for that as it is written in free verse. But although we are left hopeful for April and her family, as well as Asa, I feel like we don't know enough about whether Papa Zee will ever be okay.

That said, I loved this and ended up reading it in one sitting. But because I knew what was going to happen, I was reading the first half just waiting for the shoe to drop. I did love the adult lgbtq+ representation from April's mom and girlfriend (I don't see that enough in children's lit), and it was a good way to introduce a positive change to April's life (even if she didn't initially see it that way). I also liked the issues with Asa and although I didn't agree with the choices April made (why didn't she just tell her mom what she saw?), I do understand the guilt that led her to make these choices.

And of course, the music! I loved how music was such a huge part of her life and her relationship with Papa Zee. I was so glad she had a chance to hear Zee play his violin piece and only wish we could have heard it! As I was reading, I ended up looking up Sheila E videos (especially the one with Prince) and listening to them!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and the publisher, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Beautifully and heartbreakingly told novel-in-verse. This book explores the challenges of being an adolescent who experiences the most terrible kind of loss. The characters are so real
and the ways they deal with grief and pain can be felt by the reader. Difficult but important book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, Nancy Paulsen Books, and Kaija Langley for the opportunity to read The Order of Things in exchange for an honest review.

One year, April gets a drum set for Christmas, while her best friend Zee gets a violin. April is interested and invested, but her practice and seriousness with the drums is on and off. Meanwhile, Zee, coming from a New Orleans family of musicians, is nearly a violin prodigy, practicing all day, every day.

When middle school comes, Zee ends up going to a local music school. Even though April and Zee now go to different schools, they still see each other every day, having lived across the hall from each other in their apartment budling since childhood.

One day, Zee starts having some medical issues, but he still plays his violin with severe seriousness, as his music is one of the most important things to him in life. After his loss (not a spoiler, as it is in the book blurb, but it doesn't happen until more than halfway through the book), April struggles to find friendship in her classmate Asa, or joy in playing the drums, not to mention her mom dating a new woman. There are too many things all happening so fast with what feels like little time to mourn or consider her own dreams.

April learns to follow her dreams, just like Zee did, and to take music seriously. So what is she is a girl? Girls can rock the drums, and she won't let that stop her once she finds a new motivation to play.

A brilliant novel-in-verse that explores friendship, the consequences of keeping secrets, and how to deal with grief for a middle grade audience. A lovely exploration on music and following ones dreams, excellent for any middle grade reader.

Kaija Langley does a wonderful job in verse. Her characters are relatable and real.
April is a passionate friend and musician, though she needs a bit of incentive for both. The loss of Zee is devastating for everyone and managing the guilt along with the grief is hard enough for the adults, but even harder for April.
This is one of those books that you can’t put down. Highly recommend!

Langley does a great job in this book capturing all of the emotions of starting a new school year and changes that come with growing up. The way this book was written in verse made it easy to read and follow. I was moved by pace of the story and feeling the emotions for each character. The music background in the book made it feel like you were reading at a rhythm and I couldn’t put it down. Will recommend this book to students going through hard changes, dealing with loss and understanding empathy.

This book is a powerful novel in verse. A great read for kids dealing with grief, or kids who love music, or any kid! Because it is a fantastic book!

The Order of Things is a beautifully written book that is guaranteed to bring on all the feelings. It is a story that is full of friendship and what it means to be a family. There is great representation of and diversity within the book. It is a story full of joy and grief. It shows how different people deal with grief. As an adult, I found myself crying along with the main character at one point. This is a great book to share with adolescents who are coping with grief.

This was a quick read. I will most likely get it to include in my collection, but wasn't crazy about the representation of the father's grief. Wish the book showed him getting the help he needed - I do appreciate the sites mentioned at the end.

This middle grade novel in verse has already been added to my list to add to the library for the upcoming school year! It’s a fantastic story of April, an eleven year old girl who dreams of being a famous drummer. There’s fantastic diversity and representation in this book, lots of lovable characters, raw emotion, beautiful writing… I loved it, and I am excited to share this one with my students.

My big issues were the book had nothing to do with the writing or the story itself. The book blurb honestly gives away 97% of the plot - almost up until the very last chapter. Reading the blurb tainted the reading experience for me because I felt like I knew what was coming and had a more difficult time focusing on what I was reading. Also, one of the biggest plot points is given away in the book blurb. I really didn’t like that, because I spent over the first half of the book anticipating the emotional climax. Instead of spelling out the entire story, I think it’s enough to know that the main character struggles with grief and accepting major changes in her life.

Although I wish I had gone into this book blindly, I’m still so glad I read it and will be recommending it to students this fall! I might just have to tape a post-it over the back summary! Grades 3+

Thank you to Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy! This book releases on June 6 and is a great addition to elementary and middle school libraries!

It is really easy to follow, and the writing is well done. It's middle grade, but I feel like mature elementary kids would be fine with this, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.