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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
First line: "If radio is the medium of the ugly person then I can live my life as a voice and the world will be perfect."
LGBTQ: Transgender, female transitioning to male
"My birth name is Elizabeth, but I'm a guy. Gabe. My parents think I've gone crazy and the rest of the world is happy to agree with them, but I know I'm right. I've been a boy my whole life.
When you think about it, I'm like a record. Elizabeth is my A side, the song everybody knows, and Gabe is my B side--not heard as often, but just as good. It's time to let my B side play."
A nice, fast read giving another voice to the transgender experience. I loved the music motif and Gabe's overall dimension within the story.
LGBTQ: Transgender, female transitioning to male
"My birth name is Elizabeth, but I'm a guy. Gabe. My parents think I've gone crazy and the rest of the world is happy to agree with them, but I know I'm right. I've been a boy my whole life.
When you think about it, I'm like a record. Elizabeth is my A side, the song everybody knows, and Gabe is my B side--not heard as often, but just as good. It's time to let my B side play."
A nice, fast read giving another voice to the transgender experience. I loved the music motif and Gabe's overall dimension within the story.
At first I had trouble with all the music references, but once I got past this I loved this book. Gabe's story is beautifully honest and I love that it took place in Minnesota.
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a touching and smart first person POV of the beginnings of transition for one transgender teen. Gabe started out life as Liz and is trying to figure out how to be HIMself in everyday life now that high school is coming to a close. His family and best friend respond with differing levels of acceptance but the local radio station is the only place he truly fits in as Gabe. Cronin Mills sticks to the everyday experiences most teens have to illustrate just how difficult "normal" things are for transgender people. Gabe worries about what bathroom to use, freaks out about dating, and can't even contemplate college all because his legal name and sex (Liz Williams, female) don't match the person he knows he is. Even things like entering a local DJ contest are fraught because he doesn't want to enter as Liz and can't enter as Gabe. Cronin Mills also does a fantastic job staying away from the tropes and preachiness of the typical "problem novel". Even though it's not a long book, she included small scenes with people closest to Gabe to illustrate their struggles with his transgender status. The author writes every scene and character with incredible compassion so no one is condemned for their confusion or insensitivity. But she saves her best writing for Gabe's internal reflections on his previous life as Liz, his friendship with Paige, and how he's navigating the transition process with his family. The narrative is refreshingly honest and Gabe is alternately courageous and terrified in a very believable way. Cronin Miller also includes a wonderful appendix on understanding transgender issues in the back of the book. Incredible read.
Beautiful! Many of the radio/music/specific song references went over my head but the story, the deep and growing characters, and the overall presentation of Gabe's tale was precious and well worth the read.
2.5 stars
The ending of this book was perfect, but the rest of the book was... :/ I just don't like unnecessary violence.
The ending of this book was perfect, but the rest of the book was... :/ I just don't like unnecessary violence.
This book was so far outside of my comfort zone, but I believe this is so necessary. This is another book I inly read because it was put on the chopping block in local schools and I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to offer a community members’ opinion.
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children tells the story of Gabe, who was born Elizabeth, and his struggles with his identity, his family, social settings, and the complexities of everything therein.
How does one navigate the waters of an assigned gender and the realities of how you’re feeling? How does one navigate when those thoughts don’t align with the physicalities of one’s body?
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children won’t turn your kids into transsexual people, but it might help your child to feel understood or to make sense of the world around them if they’re feeling feelings similar to what Gabe experiences.
Never should a book be banned or censored because the content makes someone uncomfortable. The entire point of books is to see things from a different perspective. Sometimes those perspectives align with your beliefs, and other times, they expose to you things you never considered which can develop empathy and more supportive environments. Those are needed now more than ever, so why try to ban this book?
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children tells the story of Gabe, who was born Elizabeth, and his struggles with his identity, his family, social settings, and the complexities of everything therein.
How does one navigate the waters of an assigned gender and the realities of how you’re feeling? How does one navigate when those thoughts don’t align with the physicalities of one’s body?
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children won’t turn your kids into transsexual people, but it might help your child to feel understood or to make sense of the world around them if they’re feeling feelings similar to what Gabe experiences.
Never should a book be banned or censored because the content makes someone uncomfortable. The entire point of books is to see things from a different perspective. Sometimes those perspectives align with your beliefs, and other times, they expose to you things you never considered which can develop empathy and more supportive environments. Those are needed now more than ever, so why try to ban this book?
Loved this book. Great story about a trans guy without the focus all on his trans-ness. Good information in the back of the book about transgender individuals. I definitely didn't understand all the music references, but I appreciated Gabe's interest in music. Hopeful ending, too. :) Wahoo!
Review originally posted on RatherBeReadingBlog.com:
“Maybe there will be a day when this shit will be over and I can just be a dude with normal regular stuff in his life.” - Gabe
Many of us can agree that music can be a haven, a safe place.
For Gabe, who was born Liz, working the late shift at a public access radio station is a place where he can be himself — sharing the music with a small group of people who are just about as passionate about music and its history as he is. John, Gabe’s next door “grandfather-figure” neighbor, has hooked him up with this gig and also serves as his music guru; the two staying up all hours of the night sifting through his extensive vinyl collection like little kids. Gabe’s on-air discussion of our “A-side/B-sides” becomes a theme woven through the entire story; a theme that is not only true to his whole being, but one that also manages to connect us all.
I applaud Cronn-Mills for welcoming us into Gabe’s story, post-coming out. I thought that was a fresh and bold choice. It’s not surprising that his parents cannot bring themselves to fully accept who their daughter really is. Gabe just wants them to be able to look him in the eye but it is understandably tough and the depiction of their behavior and distance was never over the top, did not monopolize the plot of the book… it was just naturally there. (In many situations, Gabe proves to be impressingly patient, knowing that what he is going through can be difficult and confusing to those around him.)
While Gabe is supported by both his best friend, Paige, and mentor John, he knows that not everyone is going to accept him. He can’t wait to escape his town, move to the city, and work for a radio station. When a contest opportunity pops up (or, rather, John enrolls him), Gabe sees his ticket to the future and even participates under the name Gabe. At the same time, his following is growing on the radio (there’s even a Facebook group!) and a girl he knows from school begins calling in and suggests meeting.
This is where we have a problem. Because 1) Gabe is in love with Paige. This was heartbreakingly sweet for me. They two had such amazing chemistry and I just never knew if it would work. The second problem was that everyone in school thought Gabe was Liz, including his date and he wasn’t sure if agreeing to meet her would blow up in his face. (Whew!) Teenagers worry about dates all the time but it seemed like Gabe always had to triple worry because of other people’s judgements and unwillingness to accept him for who he was. I could tell it was exhausting but it never brought Gabe down.
I’ve read many LBGT books this year, and Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is a moving story full of the ups and downs of life, totally magnified. Each chapter begins with clever quips pertaining to Elvis (i.e. “Harry Potter is the new Elvis because they’re both magic”) and the music knowledge seeping from the book was so impressive (the research must have been extensive!). The music genres featured were so vast that I really wish I had a playlist handy to listen to while Gabe worked his own magic.
I really liked how the author was not focusing on some horrific event and how it affected this character and focused more of an every day account and how certain circumstances affected his thought process, decision making, and also the leaps Gabe had to take to be the person who always knew he was. I really felt for him in his struggles. (And really wanted the boys who were threatening him to be exiled to another planet for their smallmindness and insecurities.) I came to care for him so much, enjoy his humor, and just wish the best for him.
BMFUG is one of those books I wish could’ve gone on forever. It has engaging characters, sheds lights on a subject that is not brought to the forefront enough, and also illustrates the varying degrees of acceptance in this world — our own and the people around us.
Here’s hoping you take a chance on Gabe too.
“Maybe there will be a day when this shit will be over and I can just be a dude with normal regular stuff in his life.” - Gabe
Many of us can agree that music can be a haven, a safe place.
For Gabe, who was born Liz, working the late shift at a public access radio station is a place where he can be himself — sharing the music with a small group of people who are just about as passionate about music and its history as he is. John, Gabe’s next door “grandfather-figure” neighbor, has hooked him up with this gig and also serves as his music guru; the two staying up all hours of the night sifting through his extensive vinyl collection like little kids. Gabe’s on-air discussion of our “A-side/B-sides” becomes a theme woven through the entire story; a theme that is not only true to his whole being, but one that also manages to connect us all.
I applaud Cronn-Mills for welcoming us into Gabe’s story, post-coming out. I thought that was a fresh and bold choice. It’s not surprising that his parents cannot bring themselves to fully accept who their daughter really is. Gabe just wants them to be able to look him in the eye but it is understandably tough and the depiction of their behavior and distance was never over the top, did not monopolize the plot of the book… it was just naturally there. (In many situations, Gabe proves to be impressingly patient, knowing that what he is going through can be difficult and confusing to those around him.)
While Gabe is supported by both his best friend, Paige, and mentor John, he knows that not everyone is going to accept him. He can’t wait to escape his town, move to the city, and work for a radio station. When a contest opportunity pops up (or, rather, John enrolls him), Gabe sees his ticket to the future and even participates under the name Gabe. At the same time, his following is growing on the radio (there’s even a Facebook group!) and a girl he knows from school begins calling in and suggests meeting.
This is where we have a problem. Because 1) Gabe is in love with Paige. This was heartbreakingly sweet for me. They two had such amazing chemistry and I just never knew if it would work. The second problem was that everyone in school thought Gabe was Liz, including his date and he wasn’t sure if agreeing to meet her would blow up in his face. (Whew!) Teenagers worry about dates all the time but it seemed like Gabe always had to triple worry because of other people’s judgements and unwillingness to accept him for who he was. I could tell it was exhausting but it never brought Gabe down.
I’ve read many LBGT books this year, and Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is a moving story full of the ups and downs of life, totally magnified. Each chapter begins with clever quips pertaining to Elvis (i.e. “Harry Potter is the new Elvis because they’re both magic”) and the music knowledge seeping from the book was so impressive (the research must have been extensive!). The music genres featured were so vast that I really wish I had a playlist handy to listen to while Gabe worked his own magic.
I really liked how the author was not focusing on some horrific event and how it affected this character and focused more of an every day account and how certain circumstances affected his thought process, decision making, and also the leaps Gabe had to take to be the person who always knew he was. I really felt for him in his struggles. (And really wanted the boys who were threatening him to be exiled to another planet for their smallmindness and insecurities.) I came to care for him so much, enjoy his humor, and just wish the best for him.
BMFUG is one of those books I wish could’ve gone on forever. It has engaging characters, sheds lights on a subject that is not brought to the forefront enough, and also illustrates the varying degrees of acceptance in this world — our own and the people around us.
Here’s hoping you take a chance on Gabe too.