Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Bibliographic info

Cronn-Mills, K. (2012). Beautiful Music for Ugly Children. Woodbury, MN: Flux. ISBN: 9780738732510

Libby Scale

4 out of 5

Genre

GLBTQ, Fiction, Realistic, Controversial, Drama, Bildungsroman

Reading Level/Interest Age

14+

Plot Summary

Liz is a transsexual who just graduated high school and wants to be Gabe full time. Her best friend accepts her, but her family isn’t too keen on the idea. When her neighbor gets her a nighttime DJ spot at the local station she is ecstatic and begins her life as Gabe on air. But not everyone is so accepting of Gabe, and when more people start learning about who he really is, things become ugly. As Liz/Gabe tries to decide if being who she really is (Gabe) is worth it, we learn what true friendship is all about.

Critical Evaluation

I didn’t give this book a 5 because to a degree the only character that doesn’t feel “flat” is Gabe. We are always in his internal struggle and we are able to connect emotionally to him and what he is going through, but aside from a few scenes where we see Paige’s own struggle with who her best friend is, it’s a lot of flat teenage drama. Of course the issue involved isn’t anywhere near your average teenage drama, some people seem to think it’ll go away if they ignore it.

The heart of this story comes into play when Gabe is outed by one of her radio fans and he starts receiving threats because of who he is.  Gabe is willing to take it and ignore the bullies and threats until they start to threaten his family and friends. Things really pick up towards the end when Gabe can see that while there are people who will always look down upon him, there are still people willing to support and stand up for you (even if you don’t really know them).

It’s a great story that shows the importance of accepting others and not judging them. The author doesn’t sugar coat just how awful people filled with hate can be and the lengths they are willing to go just to hurt someone. But there is always a light at the end of the tunnel as the Ugly Children Brigade provide the love and support Gabe really needs.

Challenge Issues

This book is a challenge waiting to happen. The main character is a transsexual and ready to present themselves as a man to the world. There is also a lot of violence, hate, bullying, and of course homosexual undertones.

World War Z by Max Brooks

Bibliographic info

Brooks, M. (2006). World War Z. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN: 0-307-34660-9

Libby Scale

3 out of 5

Genre

Realistic Fiction, War, Horror

Reading Level/Interest Age

Lexile Reading Level: 960 / Ages 14+

Reader’s Annotation

When the zombies arrive, what will the survivors say?

Plot Summary

Written as a series of interviews with various survivors, Brooks sets out to create a believable oral history of what happened during a zombie crisis.

Critical Evaluation

Brooks does a good job at keeping each chapter (story) in their own voice and not making it feel like the same person told each story. While he was going for a “history” book, it does very much read like a non-fiction history book with stale characters and no real plot. It’s not intended to be a novel and it definitely doesn’t read like one. I’m sure it has the effect and feel Brooks was going for, but for me a lot ended up on the boring end for me. I was hoping for a bit more plot and a bit less “textbook”, but I think based on what the book is, Brooks did a good job . I give it 3 stars mostly for the lack of ability to keep me focused on the book very long.

About the Author

“The New York Times bestselling author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, Max Brooks has been called “the Studs Terkel of zombie journalism.”
He lives in New York City but is ready to move to a more remote and defensible location at a moment’s notice.
Max Brooks’s The Zombie Survival Guide formed the core of the world’s civilian survival manuals during the Zombie War. Mr. Brooks subsequently spent years traveling to every part of the globe in order to conduct the face-to-face interviews that have been incorporated into World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.” (Amazon, 2012)

Max Brooks is also the son of Mel Brooks (GoodReads, 2012).

Challenge Issues

Many descriptions are very violent and graphic. It is also written to come across as an actual historical account and younger readers may have a hard time accepting it as fiction.

References

Amazon. (2012). The Zombie Survival Guide. Retrieved December 9, 2012 from http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Survival-Guide-Complete-Protection/dp/1400049628/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355087171&sr=1-1&keywords=zombie+survival+guide

GoodReads. (2012). The Zombie Survival Guide. Retrieved December 9, 2012 from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/535441.The_Zombie_Survival_Guide

Metametrics. (2012). The Lexile Framework for Reading: Weetzie Bat. Retrieved September 8, 2012 from www.lexile.com/fab

The Bubble Gum Thief by Jeff Miller

Bibliographic info

Miller, J. (2012). The Bubble Gum Thief. Las Vegas, NV: Thomas & Mercer. ISBN: 9781612184838

Libby Scale

5 out of 5

Genre

Crime, Thriller, Mystery

Reading Level/Interest Age

Adult / 20+

Plot Summary (SPOILERS)

Dagny Gray is a special agent for the FBI. When she gets shipped off to some counter-terrorism class, she knows she’s in jeopardy of losing her job. No one voluntarily goes to this class. To make matters worse, her boss knows she’s anorexic and gives her a weight requirement that must be met by the end of the class in order to continue her work. The professor is old and a bit crazy but she likes him. He’s not the only guy she likes in town, and she quickly falls in love with an artist.  The professor takes her under his wing and enlists her help in “looking into” a bank robbery in Ohio (not an official investigation). The simple bank robbery leads to a full blown FBI investigation and Dagny is purposely left out of the loop. But when things get personal, she and her “team” (the professor and another student from the class) are determined to solve the case on their own. Just who is the Bubble Gum Thief and will Dagny still have a job if she finds out?

Critical Evaluation

I gave this book a 5 because I didn’t want to get into too many decimals. Ideally it would be closer to 4.75, but really who’s keeping track. I thought the book started off a little slower than I’d like, but not enough to make me reconsider reading it. I’m also torn on whether or not I love or hate the POV of the story. 90% of the book is written from Dagny’s perspective (which is awesome), but it jumps to the victim’s perspective each time a crime is committed. I know we are purposely left out of the mind of the guilty party so we can figure out the case along with Dagny. But I just don’t know if I like that we went to a person once, and never go back.

The Bubble Gum Thief has so many twists and turns and the whole case is a giant snowball of corruption. It’s almost fantastical the way a small team figures out what’s happening faster than the whole FBI, but it doesn’t give a knock to the rating of the book. It’s good and truthfully it all makes sense in the end.

As Dagny and the professor figured out details in the case I realized that all of the clues are given to us as we read. I was constantly going back to see that patterns really existed and it was all interworked perfectly! Judging from how many clues I got on my own (zero) I have determined that I should not go into the crime fighting business.

About the Author

(From the book) “Jeff Miller grew up on the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Jerry Springer attended his temple and Pete Rose broke his heart. He’s rafted down the Rio Grande with folksinger Butch Hancock, co-created an award-winning mockumentary about table tennis, and performed and written for a public-access sketch comedy series. Like many lawyers, the only thing he ever really wanted to do was write. The Bubble Gum Thief is his first book. He lives with his wonderful wife, Kate, and their two young sons.”

Challenge Issues

From a public library standpoint, there shouldn’t be any challenges. This book was written for adults and is marketed as such. This is because as a crime novel there is violence, death, thievery, corruption, lying, etc. It’s an excellent mystery/crime novel, and I don’t think many younger readers would find interest in the book anyway. (No vampires ;-P )