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Nancy Keane's | Booktalks -- Quick and Simple | |
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Cronn-Mills, Kirstin.
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN New York : Flux, 2012 IL YA ISBN 0738732516 (3 booktalks) |
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Booktalk
#1 Hey everyone, most folks know me by my A side, which is pretty good – just like the hit songs that everybody knows. Guess what? I’ve got a B side too, and I think it’s even better. Do you have a B side? Some part of you that only you and maybe one or two other people know about? I say, let those B sides play! If you like your B side, chances are that others will too! (Vermont Green Mountain Book Award, 2015) Booktalk #2 “Gabe has always identified as a boy, but he was born with a girl's body. With his new public access radio show gaining in popularity, Gabe struggles with romance, friendships, and parents-- all while trying to come out as transgendered. An audition for a station in Minneapolis looks like his ticket to a better life in the big city. But his entire future is threatened when several violent guys find out Gabe, the popular DJ, is also Elizabeth from school.” –Provided by Publisher (Link: http://bit.ly/1e1EG4X) (South Carolina Young Adult Book Award, 2015,Prepared by: Pamela Williams, Columbia High School, pamwilliams@richlandone.org) Booktalk #3 Gabe is a trans man,
born as Liz, finally about to get out of high school, so
he can begin living his life as himself. He tells us: “I’ve been a boy my whole life. I wish I’d been born a vampire or a werewolf instead, or with a big red clown nose permanently stuck to myface, because that stuff would be easy. Having a brain that doesn’t agree with your body is a much bigger pain…” His best friend, Paige, is totally supportive, though there's that pesky attraction to her that makes life difficult. Gabe's parents and brother haven't been able to look him in the eye since he broke the news to them. His next-door neighbor and mentor, John, doesn't know yet, and Gabe's nervous about telling him. In the meantime, John and Gabe share a passion for music, and John's just gotten Gabe a gig DJing on KZUK in the middle of the night. Gabe calls his show Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, and is so honest and inspiring, he inspires an Ugly Children Brigade to form. Music lovers will find the radio and music selection parts very interesting. Everyone will root for Gabe to succeed, despite opposition. The end of high school being a chance for many characters to do what they want, be who they want to be seemed a bit forced, but it’s as good a time as any to make transitions, and it worked for the story. (Booktalk by NH Flume Committee) |
| SUBJECTS: Transgender people --
Fiction. Disc jockeys -- Fiction. High schools -- Fiction. Schools -- Fiction. |
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