We’re opening up Pride Month with a party and we’re going to let it run all. Month. Long. For starters, catch this virtual interview with local, LGBTQ+ author Bill Konigsberg. We’re diving into his novel, “The Music of What Happens,” with a discussion about how this character-driven novel came to life and how to address mature topics with young adult readers.

This interview is the first of a three-part, month-long event! Afterward, pick up your copy of “The Music of What Happens” from any Bookmans location and join us for a YA book club. Book club participants will choose what questions to ask Bill in a follow-up interview later this month!

All ages are welcome to our join our YA Book Club! Read “The Music of What Happens” with us, then join in on the book club meetup and discussion group later this month. Stop by any Bookmans location to pick up your copy of “The Music of What Happens.” For eBook and audiobook options, click here.

More about Bill Konigsberg:

Bill Konigsberg is the award-winning author of six young adult novels. His novel, THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS, released in 2019, has been optioned for a film. In 2018, The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)’s Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) established the Bill Konigsberg Award for Acts and Activism for Equity and Inclusion through Young Adult Literature. Bill lives in Phoenix with his husband, Chuck, and their Australian Labradoodles, Mabel and Buford.

About “The Music of What Happens“:

Max: 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” 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.