In the Key of Us -- Mariama J. Lockington, Hardcover

From the author of the critically acclaimed novel For Black Girls Like Me, Mariama J. Lockington, comes a coming-of-age story surrounding the losses that threaten to break us and the friendships that make us whole again.

Thirteen-year-old Andi feels stranded after the loss of her mother, the artist who swept color onto Andi's blank canvas. When she is accepted to a music camp, Andi finds herself struggling to play her trumpet like she used to before her whole world changed. Meanwhile, Zora, a returning camper, is exhausted trying to please her parents, who are determined to make her a flute prodigy, even though she secretly has a dancer's heart.

At Harmony Music Camp, Zora and Andi are the only two Black girls in a sea of mostly white faces. In kayaks and creaky cabins, the two begin to connect, unraveling their loss, insecurities, and hopes for the future. And as they struggle to figure out who they really are, they may just come to realize who they really need: each other.

In the Key of Us is a lyrical ode to music camp, the rush of first love, and the power of one life-changing summer.

Author: Mariama J. Lockington
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 04/26/2022
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.30w x 1.60d
ISBN: 9780374314101
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2022
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 04/01/2022 - Book Of Special Distinction
Publishers Weekly 03/07/2022
Booklist 03/15/2022 pg. 72
School Library Journal 05/01/2022 pg. 76
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2022 pg. 148
Shelf Awareness 05/13/2022

About the Author

Mariama J. Lockington is an adoptee, writer, and nonprofit educator. She has been telling stories and making her own books since the second grade, when she wore short-alls and flower leggings every day to school. She is the author of For Black Girls Like Me, her middle-grade debut, as well as a poetry chapbook The Lucky Daughter. Mariama holds a Masters in Education from Lesley University and Masters in Fine Arts in Poetry from San Francisco State University. She lives in Lexington, KY with her partner and dapple haired dachshund, Henry.
mariamajlockington.com