Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

the cover of the book BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN

Yay for Gabe and John!

Oh, this book. Oh, Gabe.

If you’re unfamiliar with Gabe’s world, here’s the flap copy:

“Gabe Williams is a guy with big summer plans.  He’s got a job as a radio DJ, following in the footsteps of his mentor, and he wants to move far away after graduation.  He’s also hoping his best friend Paige will fall in love with him—she’s smart, she’s hot, and she tolerates his music habit.  He couldn’t ask for more. His only problem?   The rest of the world has known him as Elizabeth for the last eighteen years.

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN is the story of how Gabe learns to be a guy so he can leave Elizabeth behind.  Some good things happen in the course of his summer—Gabe graduates, gets asked out, and gets loved by the fans of his show.  But he also gets outed and threatened, and he must defend himself against violence that’s rooted in fear.  In essence, Gabe’s journey to find himself is the same one we all take.  His is just electrified, amplified, and broadcast into the night.”

I had no idea what this book would do in the world.

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC won the 2014 Stonewall Award from the American Library Association, an award given to books “of exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.” It was the most humbling experience of my life.  BMUC also received other generous honors from ALA.  In January 2013 it was named a Top Ten pick for the 2013 Rainbow List, and it was also placed on the 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.  BMUC was also the winner of a 2014  IPPY Award (Independent Publisher Book Award)–a silver medal in their Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Fiction category. In June 2013 it received a silver medal in ForeWord Review’s Book of the Year Awards for YA fiction, an award for books from small and independent presses (yay Flux!)  It was also honored as a Lambda Literary Award finalist in the Children’s/Young Adult category.

Here’s a link to the Publisher’s Weekly review as well as the Kirkus review.  You can buy it at IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, or other fine establishments.

This book was also the subject (I guess?) of the short film Gender is Like an Ocean, as part of the Addressing Injustice project at the University of Toronto. I could write thirty pages about this experience, but you can find more about it (and the film itself) right here. Participating in the film’s presentation in Toronto and getting to meet kids from the research project remains the highlight of my writing career. What an unexpected and beautiful honor.

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