A review by jesselyn
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
2.0
I wanted to like this book but I couldn't get through it. The way Gabe talked about his gender felt forced and inauthentic and the book feels dated even for 2012. It sounded at times like the author got her information about being trans from info pamphlets written by other cis people instead of first hand from the experiences of trans folks.
As other people have noted, Elvis features heavily in the narrative with no analysis or even acknowledgement of how he appropriated and downright stole Black music.
And aside from these issues, the story felt heavy-handed and unrealistic. Only a few episodes into his radio show, Gabe already has a loyal fan base that graffiti a giant mural inspired by his show. Really? Do teenagers even listen to public radio at midnight? And the way the teens describe their "A side/B side" sounded way too much like an adult trying to be cool without a good grasp of how contemporary teenagers talk about themselves. I had no interest in finding out what happened to Gabe and gave up after about a third of the book.
Skip this and read Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard for a more heartfelt exploration of queerness and masculinity.
As other people have noted, Elvis features heavily in the narrative with no analysis or even acknowledgement of how he appropriated and downright stole Black music.
And aside from these issues, the story felt heavy-handed and unrealistic. Only a few episodes into his radio show, Gabe already has a loyal fan base that graffiti a giant mural inspired by his show. Really? Do teenagers even listen to public radio at midnight? And the way the teens describe their "A side/B side" sounded way too much like an adult trying to be cool without a good grasp of how contemporary teenagers talk about themselves. I had no interest in finding out what happened to Gabe and gave up after about a third of the book.
Skip this and read Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard for a more heartfelt exploration of queerness and masculinity.