A review by literatehedgehog
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
3.0
As a coming-of-age teen novel about music, love, and getting your family to understand you, it's a pretty solid story. Some parts are windy while some are jumpy, making the timeline hard to follow. Sometimes Gabe's voice is a little too "tell, tell, tell" rather than "show, show, show" - sure, it's a first person narrative inside his head, but there could have been more editing.
As a coming-out-as-transsexual novel, with complicated feelings for a best friend, a tense family that seems to just ignore Gabe's presence as a coping mechanism, and a decent swath of positive, ambivalent, negative, and supportive responses from his peers and community, it was a pretty solid story. I didn't really buy some of the romantic tensions and complications with the three different girls, but that's more of a writing style flaw than an inherent story or character flaw. (For instance, Gabe spends the first third of the book obsessed with staring at girls' mouths and then never mentions mouths for the rest of the story. Why? Was it purposeful to show his changing focus of attention? Or was it just sloppy editing?).
There is a good author's note afterward that details various identity terms, some general information, and what I really thought important, numbers and websites for support for both kids and their families. On the other hand, I do wish the author explained a little more her research process for the book, not just that she considers herself an ally. I would hope that she did in fact meet or talk to people who have come out as transgender or transsexual...
Recommend to
For the 15-18 year olds you would want to give George to, but want a story with more meaty, complex relationships, who aren't as persnickety as I am about plot progression and character narration.
As a coming-out-as-transsexual novel, with complicated feelings for a best friend, a tense family that seems to just ignore Gabe's presence as a coping mechanism, and a decent swath of positive, ambivalent, negative, and supportive responses from his peers and community, it was a pretty solid story. I didn't really buy some of the romantic tensions and complications with the three different girls, but that's more of a writing style flaw than an inherent story or character flaw. (For instance, Gabe spends the first third of the book obsessed with staring at girls' mouths and then never mentions mouths for the rest of the story. Why? Was it purposeful to show his changing focus of attention? Or was it just sloppy editing?).
There is a good author's note afterward that details various identity terms, some general information, and what I really thought important, numbers and websites for support for both kids and their families. On the other hand, I do wish the author explained a little more her research process for the book, not just that she considers herself an ally. I would hope that she did in fact meet or talk to people who have come out as transgender or transsexual...
Recommend to
For the 15-18 year olds you would want to give George to, but want a story with more meaty, complex relationships, who aren't as persnickety as I am about plot progression and character narration.