Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is the name of Gabe Williams' new radio show, where he gets to exercise his talent as disc jockey and hang out with his neighbor John, his musical mentor. It's the only part of his life that really makes sense--his family refuses to stop calling him Elizabeth, he can't see how to get a job or go to college as Gabe, and now that Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is getting popular at school, he's got to contend with some bullies making serious threats, the overtures from two girls who may or may not know what they're asking, and his best friend Paige acting weirder and weirder.Excellent. I zipped through it. The characters are compelling and believable, at times walking masses of contradictions that still somehow make sense. The plot pulls you forward relentlessly. Cronn-Mills manages to slide some history in there without slowing down the book. Paige doesn't get a satisfying conclusion, but there's a fine line between concluding that something will remain unresolved (as happens for another subplot) and simply seeming to forget about it.
Overall rating: 5/5
Project upshot: This book is almost certainly going on the touchstone list.
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