Classic Cat

Block, F.L. Weetzie Bat. New York: HarperCollins, 1989. Print.

Weetzie Bat is an unusual name for an unusual girl who tells her story through a most unusual book. Weetzie is a free spirit who floats around L.A. seeing and expecting the best of people, but learns throughout the book that things don't always end up the way you might think they should. She loves her mom and her dad Charlie Bat, but its really her best friend Dirk and his boyfriend Duck along with My Secret Agent Lover Man that guides her through life and are her true supporters. This is the story of how Weetzie manages to create the perfect loving family for herself, even if it is anything but traditional.

Francesca Lia Block uses the most captivating language and huge splashes of magical realism to paint a glorious picture of Weetzie's world. Along with the spirit of fun that permeates this book, Block faces the heavy issues of homosexuality, suicide, absentee alcoholic parents, abusive sexual partners, AIDS, adultery and deciding to have children with grace, fierce truth and understanding. Somehow she managed to imagine up Weetzie, someone who looks at the world at the beginning of the book with naivety, but who also grows throughout the book into a young woman who learns to take unusual things in stride and continues to face each day with supreme and admirable optimism.  As we read through the book we come to love each facet of these unique characters and feel like we have become part of their fantastic family as well.

Abstract (thanks to OCLC World Cat): "Follows the wild adventures of Weetzie Bat and her Los Angeles friends, Dirk, Duck, and My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man."

Winner - ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults, ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Parents' Choice Gold Award

OCLC World Cat Record ~ Holdings, Abstracts, Further Info