Fifteen years ago Francesca Lia Block made a dazzling entrance into the literary scene with what would become one of the most talked-about books of the decade: Weetzie Bat. This poetic roller coaster swoop has a sleek new design to match its new sister and brother books, Goat Girls and Beautiful Boys. Rediscover the magic of Weetzie Bat, Ms. Blocks sophisticated, slinkster-cool love song to L.A.the book that shattered the standard, captivated readers of all generations, and made Francesca Lia Block one of the most heralded authors of the last decade.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 117 reviews)

Book Weetzie Bat

I brought this book for a pre-teen girl of 12...each year I try to get something out of the ordinary for her to read, something that she would not pick herself....I read reviews in the LA Times book review section every Sunday and keep copies of reviews of books that might fit my need, or seem interesting to me, or something that a teenager might like...Also, I read magazines like Essence and Ebony and see what books are out or coming out that might appeal...I buy books for gifts twice a year at Birthdays and Christmas. I buy books about 4 times a year for myself....Amazon.com has the best prices in the world, when it comes to books and CDs...I love Amazon.com it is so easy to find what I am interested in and get a good price.
December 23, 2008

Delightful mix of fantasy and reality

A book that dares to sprinkle in a bit of fantasy into an already (sort of) fairy tale world of Los Angelos? Why not? Block creates an enchanting heroine in Weetzie, a girl with her own determined to make her life as perfect and as wondrous as possible.

For the fantasy aspect, here comes 3 wishes. Unlike the cliche, she is not punished for her wishes. They all come delightfully true in a matter-of-fact style that pushes forward the rest of a sweet and heartfelt story about life, death, and love.

It's passionate and almost sing-song in its voice, but it still has more poignant heart than a lot of books out there, and Block's sense of poetry keeps each character and each story magically in line.
September 27, 2008

Magical

It's my understanding that the Weetzie Bat books have quite a following, and I can understand their cult status, as Block herself has a bit of a cult angle to her fan base. I however, entered into the world of Weetzie Bat, the title character, completely unaware of what to expect.

The book is quite short, quite fluffy, and quite quick to get through - under an hour or two easily. Although it's probably meant for younger readers, the poetic prose (which I'll get to later) makes it enjoyable for more artistically inclined older readers as well.

The story is Cinderella-esque in nature, or at least a pastiche of fairy tale motifs. Weetzie Bat is a cool LA chick that befriends a gay guy and makes 3 wishes on a magical lamp. The wishes come true but not without their challenges - mostly challenges to the standards we are accustomed to in the modern world including extended families, multiple fathers, and the realities of diseases like AIDS.

The book is not exactly coherent- meaning it reads more like a long form poem than an actual plot based story with the typical climaxes and denouments. However it is beautifully written and challenges the reader to question the status quo if they are willing to analyze the enchanting words laid out by Block.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book but I didn't really get a lot out of it...it was sweet and frothy, but altogether, left me feeling empty.
July 26, 2007

Wonderful Weetzie

I think I want to marry her. Ok, so really I just want to go out for coffee and share our writing. I want to incorporate some of her magic into my writings. I love it.I posted about reading Necklace of Kisses a while back. Well, when I finished that, I checked out some more Block books from the public library. First, I read Weetzie Bat. I wasn't quite as impressed with it. The beginning felt too quick. No story development. But, gradually, that improved, and I found myself loving Weetzie. I do not, however, see this as a young adult novel. It is very adult. As all of Block's books have been, so far. I love them, and they may be written on the reading level of a teenager, but they are not what I would call teen material. A little too heavy on sex and drugs, etc...

July 02, 2007

thumb up for originality, thumb down for substance

My opinion is really divided on Block. On the one hand, I love her ultra-modern, dreamily yet manically poetic retelling of fairy tales (here is the genie with the three wishes, and the "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" moral). On the other hand, her characters are flat and rather obnoxious (teenagers that try too hard to be weird, one of my biggest pet peeves as I was a naturally wierd kid), and I often feel like I'm drowning in urban, commercialistic images. Her prose and style is so manic that it just flies from one plot point to another (they get their wishes, they get their men, they get pregnant, the cry about the possibility of AIDs, they live happily ever after) that it feels like a teenager or child is telling the story wistfully. That's probably on purpose, but it just doesn't feel deep or meaningful or even worthwhile. She can modernize fairy tales into beautiful poetry, but I'm just not feeling it. Grade: B

June 10, 2007

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