THE ORDER OF THINGS

Karen Murray embodies this free-verse story's characters, emotive qualities, and rhythm. With authenticity, she portrays 11-year-old April, who is uncertain about going to a different school from her best friend, Zee, a musical prodigy. Murray builds April's discomfort with nosy classmate Asa and her mother's new girlfriend. She misses Zee and lets him persuade her not to worry his father about his racing heart. Murray's depiction of April's shock and horror at Zee's sudden death is stunning as is her depiction of April's grief, which she says "feels like a hole inside me." Listeners will feel the pain of April's guilt-driven compensating behavior when she learns about Asa's hidden life and the fact Zee's father is no longer doing his job as a mail carrier. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2023]