A review by mcf
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

4.0

An impressive, really sweet story of a teenage trans man and the challenges he faces. For the most part, Gabe is confident in his decisions, and the book starts after he has already come out to his best friend and family, an unusual entry point for such a story. Gabe and the supporting case were appealing and nicely drawn, and there was a pleasing nuance to his parents and their struggles with his identity. The best thing about the book, though, was how unresolved it was -- the great majority of the dramatic moment end ambiguously, something which, while perhaps unusual in a YA novel (at least one not leading into a sequel), is refreshingly true to how things work in, you know, real life.