Name: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children
ISBN: 9780738732510

Kirstin Cronn-Mills

The award-winning author of The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind presents the story of teen DJ Gabe, a transgendered youth who knows himself to be a boy trapped in a girl's body and whose efforts to gain acceptance are threatened by a violent gang of bullies. Original.

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

Jess

Read this review on my blog! --&gt; <a href="http://www.gonewiththewords.com/2013/02/review-beautiful-music-for-ugly-children-by-kirstin-cronn-mills.html" rel="nofollow noopener">Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills</a> I loved that I knew who Gabe was without a doubt. He never once made me feel confused about the identity of the character I was reading. His voice was rang so true. Even with his certainty though, he’s very shy about it. This book is more about Gabe dealing with acceptance and about being more open and out. His public radio program, Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, is a huge help in getting Gabe out of his shell. He gets to put himself out there without having to actually be out there before he’s ready. And with his gaining popularity on the program, he starts getting attention from girls, but there’s always also going to be some closed-minded idiots that bring trouble. There’s just a lot to deal with, and it’s never easy, but the point is he’s trying and staying true to himself. Music plays a HUGE role in this book. It’s almost like another character in the story. Lots of Elvis. And lots of other artists and bands you’re sure to know. I loved that Gabe had a mentor in John, his next door neighbor who used to be a radio DJ. Their relationship was so amazing, half the time I would forget that John was an old man. I guess coolness doesn’t go away with age. :) Paige, Gabe’s best friend since forever, was exactly what a best friend should be like. Even when things started getting complicated for these two, I didn’t doubt her loyalty once. Gabe’s family took a little more warming up to than the rest of the characters. But Gabe’s revelation hit them hardest. At first I didn’t think that they’d ever come around, which made me really sad for him. This is a story that will touch your heart. It’s unique and so well told. Don’t miss out.

Victoria

I like the concept. I like that it talked about music. And I love that it tackled one of the most sensitive issues that we have in our society at the moment - gender. Or more specifically, someone's gender, gender-preference and gender-orientation. I'm sure no homophobe or close-minded individual would be interested in reading this book, but it's nice to know that a book like this exists. It helps people better understand the story of someone who feels like they were trapped in the wrong body.

But as a story itself, it was just okay. Nothing particularly exciting. Plus, the ending was a complete meh. I was expecting more. But the author ended up with a lecture about the LGBT community, which is okay as a whole but bad for the book itself. 

But, the book is pretty much forgettable.

Fern

Nadine 

I wanted to like this, but there is something missing. It has all the ingredients and potential but somehow the writing just falls a little flat. 
It's a book whose time has come, particularly with the current discussion around gender and body / mind identity, but yet ... 

Also anyone else notice how parents are creeping into children's / YA fiction. When did that happen? And they're parents with feelings and the "right" to be hurt and upset with how their kids behave ... even as a parent I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Ella Zegarra

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Me encantaría decir que amé Beautifull Music for Ugly Children de principio a fin, no fue asi, aunque tiene varios puntos importantes que quizá te animen a elegir este libro para una futura lectura.

Primero, creo que es mi primer libro donde quién narra la historia tiene más que decidido que el género con el que nació no es el adecuado y esta haciendo todo lo posible para que su familia y sus pocos amigos acepten quién es. Esa idea, además del curioso titulo, fue lo que llamó mi curiosidad.

¿Obtuve lo que esperaba? ¿O fue una historia que solo llamaba a la controversia?


  


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Kate

This book had an easy-to-read writing style, but it did feel like the author was overtly trying to Send an Important Message About an Important Issue. As a cis person I can't really speak to the quality of the rep, but it definitely felt like it was just ticking boxes without actually telling an interesting story.
(Oh also Gabe a music snob in that annoying "all pop music is trash" kind of way which is obnoxious)
[review updated March 2018 bc I wasn't happy with it]

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

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