Anne: Hello, Kaija, and welcome to MG Book Village! It’s great to have you here to chat about your debut novel in verse, The Order of Things, which hit shelves in June. Would you please tell readers—briefly—what the story is about?
Kaija: Certainly! The Order of Things is the story of 11 year-old April Jackson and her best friend, Zee. Both are aspiring musicians; Zee a violin prodigy and April a novice drummer who adores Shelia E. The story opens on the first day of sixth grade, but April is going to their old school and Zee is going to a new STEAM school to further his musical skills. This change has April on edge because Zee is her biggest cheerleader and champion, and when Zee dies suddenly, April has to navigate her grief and find the courage and compassion to continue practicing for her dream solo.
Anne: Thank you. So heartfelt! In the cover image, we see April holding drumsticks, and you say she’s decorated her bedroom with photos of women drummers—“drum mavens.” So, tell me about you. Are you a drummer? Do you play any instruments?
Kaija: One of my earliest instruments was a set of Mickey Mouse drums, which didn’t last long. I think I was five. I loved drums, but I never took formal lessons. I also started dance around the same time. I began in ballet and progressed quickly to tap. I adored the percussive nature of tap dancing. Still do. When I found my way back to music again, it was to take piano lessons starting around age eight.
Readers may be surprised to learn that many of the people in the story are real. Shelia E. and Prince are likely better known musicians, but all the Drum Mavens are professional drummers, and the places are real, too: Wally’s Café and the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Anne: I already knew a bit about Prince and Berklee, but other references to real people and places were new to me. I enjoyed learning about them!
Now, let’s talk about SCA—sudden cardiac arrest. In a remarkably gentle way, The Order of Things helps readers understand SCA. It’s an excellent book for anyone who is grieving or going through tough times. What made you want to write a story in which a character experiences SCA?
Kaija: I had a best friend when I was six years old. We were inseparable, except during the school day because he went to the local public school, and I went to a parochial school. One morning we went to school and that afternoon only I came back home. He’d died of SCA during his school day. While everyone who knew him was in shock by the sudden nature of his death, I don’t recall anyone asking me what it felt like to lose someone I cared about so much who was also my same age.
Anne: Wow, that’s tough.
Kaija. Yeah. Writing this story was my way of acknowledging that young people experience hard things and feel deeply. While the story is otherwise fictional, I do hope readers of all ages find the value in being resilient, courageous, and compassionate even when life takes turns we don’t expect.
Anne: That’s great. And let me add for our readers: the story isn’t all-grief-all-the-time. I laughed at Papa Zee’s jokes. Were his scenes included in your earliest drafts or did you develop his character along the way? How long did it take you to write The Order of Things? Tell us a bit about your writing process.
Kaija: Papa Zee was a crucial character in the story from the very first draft. He’s like a father-figure for April, a good-natured, supportive, and kind human. He definitely evolved into more of a three dimensional character throughout the many rounds of revision, but I was very intentional in creating a non-traditional family. Two single working parents raising two single children.
I started the first draft of the story in July 2019. I took two weeks of vacation time to allow myself the space to study the structure of other verse novels and develop a loose outline to create my first draft. I often write in the margins once I’ve started a story – evenings, weekends, on the subway commute to work – but at the outset I really need the mental and physical space to imagine and hear the voice of the characters.
Anne: I love that you wrote the story in verse. Take these lines, for example:
Working night shift
loading trucks means
Mama sleeps most of
the day, works most of
the night, and we live
in the quiet moments
in between.
I felt a sense of warmth in the “quiet in between” moments, a deep connection between April and her mom. Although these lines were brief, they gave me a good picture of April’s mom. Why did you choose to write in verse rather than narrative prose?
Kaija: April is a drummer and that instrument in particular lends itself well to verse. I listened to hours of concerts and interviews with drummers. April is just starting her foray into music, and it was important to capture the sounds of what she’s playing and the physical and emotional sensations of learning something new.
Anne: In the FAQs on your website, you mention that you’ve also written for adults. Why the shift to writing for young readers? Do you plan to write more MG fiction?
Kaija: I always dreamed I would grow up to be a writer. I studied journalism in college and did an MFA in fiction not too long after. After completing several adult novels without securing an agent, I needed a break. I didn’t know at the start it would be a ten year hiatus, but that’s when serendipity struck.
I attended a reading by Jacqueline Woodson shortly after she won the National Book Award for Brown Girl Dreaming. I was in an auditorium with 300 middle schoolers who were reading along in their books as she read from the stage. The last novel I wanted to write before my “break” was about an adult woman who remembers a crucial moment in her life during the summer when she was twelve. That evening I realized the story would be better told from the twelve year old’s perspective.
Anne: Nice. I would love to have been in that audience with Jacqueline Woodson reading!
What are you working on now?
Kaija: I’m in the early stages of imagination, thinking about my next MG novel while I await the publication of my second picture book, A Century for Caroline, in Fall 2024.
Anne: Glad to hear you’re writing picture books, too. Now, before we close, please let us know your social media links. I already mentioned your website, kaijalangley.com. Where else can readers go to learn more about you and your work?
Kaija: In addition to my website, I’m on Twitter and Instagram @mizzkalwrites71.
Anne: Thank you so much for stopping by MG Book Village, and especially for helping readers appreciate that sudden cardiac arrest is a thing. The Order of Things is a welcome addition to literature that helps readers process grief.
Kaija: Thanks for having me!
Kaija Langley was born in Northern NJ and raised on a healthy diet of library books, music and theater performances, and visits to the family farm in rural North Carolina. The author of the award-winning picture book, When Langton Dances, she loves long road trips, dancing wherever music moves her, and adventures near and far with her Beloved.
Anne (A.B.) Westrick is the author of the older-MG novel Brotherhood. You can learn more about Anne at the MG Book Village “About” page.
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