Weetzie Bat

Rating:
Summary: To Clear Up Some Blatant Misreadings of the Text
Review: (...). How anyone could read this novel and miss this integral plot line is beyond me. Lastly, this is a work of fiction and dwells in the delicious realm of fantasy. In the author's version of a modern utopia, her characters remain refreshingly unjaded and lack the bitterness in which most folks love to wallow. To say that the characters' lifestyles are implausible indicates the death of imagination; adult readers must let their fanciful musings out from behind the cold bars of rationality if they ever hope to "get" the text.

This book is wonderful and I highly recommend it to readers young and old. Though some say that the subject matter might be too mature for some readers, I can only protest. We live in a world that is harsh and often unyielding. We can shelter our children as long as we want but the cold hard fact of life is that one day we won't be there to shield them from the cold hard facts of life. Why not address these issues in a safe, measured dose while they still have the caring parental involvement needed to process such difficult issues?

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Summary: A novel take on the young adult novel
Review: Weetzie Bat is a cool young woman who is full of spunk and happiness in the sometimes-disturbing world of LA. In this somewhat surreal fairy tale, modern sicknesses like HIV and modern issues like abortion make their appearance hand in hand with traditional elements, such as a genie who grants Weetzie three wishes.

Weetzie and a sometimes-strange set of characters with names like Dirk, Duck, and My Secret Agent Lover Man cruise through life, taking the tragedies that they must face in stride, yet without becoming numb to the pain around them.

There is a strong sense of love and strength among the oddball nontraditional family that eventually emerges, and the lesson of the book is that the love of a family can support you through anything, and also that a family is defined by the love of the members rather than by blood ties or marriage vows.

This book is quirky and fun to read. Unlike most fiction written for young adults, relevant to the lives of urban youths without being preachy or depressing. Some readers might be turned off by the seemingly random departures from a traditional storyline, but others will love and cherish it as a book that is different, and that speaks to them.


Rating:
Summary: Guess I'm not "sophisticated" enough
Review: The reviewers can rave about Block's magical prose all they like, but I just didn't like the book. Maybe I'm just too long past my teens, but I found no warmth in the relationships here. It all seems to be trying too hard. Providing fiction for different readers shouldn't mean we have to pander.

Rating:
Summary: WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!!
Review: I read this book during school vacation. I realized it was short read and seemed easy. Little did I know, filled within the 200+ pages of this book was themes that were unrealistic and innapropriate. The book's plot was just plain out s.t.u.p.i.d.
The book takes place in Shangri LA, a young girl in highschool named Weetzie Bat feels like no one understands her, and therefore is pretty much an outcast. She soon meets one of the coolest guys in school named Dirk, and finds out his big secret that he is gay. Both spend all their days together out on the town having fun in Ducks '55 red pontiac. Both are boyfriendless, or as the book says "duckless" so they both go on a hunt to find ducks, aka boys.
Weetzie and Dirk go to Dirks grandmother's, Fifi's cottage where Fifi gives Weetzie a bottle. When weetzie gets home she discovers the bottle has a GENIE inside..can this get anymore childish? (CHEEZY!!) The geenie gives Weetzie 3 wishes. She wishes for Dirk to find a Duck and for her to find her Secret Agent Lover Man. For the 3rd wish she wishes that they can both live in a cottage happily.
Soon enough all 3 wishes comes true. Dirk meet's a duck whos name is LITERALLY DUCK-and she meets a duck whos name is LITERALLY MY SECRET AGENT LOVER MAN...this is SUCH a cheezy book!
Towards the end of the book they all live in a cottage (her 3rd wish) o yea, this wish came true because Fifi died so they got to move in! (?!) yay? As all 4 live in the cottage, weetize wants a baby but My Secret Agent Lover Man doesnt so she has sex with Dirk AND Duck, a three-some and have a baby..not knowing who the father is, but according to them it doesnt matter because they all love eachother and they were doing it to make Weetzie happy. So My Secret Agent Lover Man discovers she did this but then forgives her, seeing that he did something pretty similar. He had a baby with a WITCH, and they must take care of the baby or the witch will cast spells on them all....As the book continues more drama? unravels..
This cheezy, unrealistic, childish yet innappropriate book, was so bad that I highly DO NOT recomend this book to anyone that ACTUALLY wants to read a GOOD book!!! (the only reason I gave it 1 star was because you can't rate it 0).

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Surprise
Review: Last spring break I read I Was a Teenage Fairy while in Ireland and thought it was amazing. Although Weetzie Bat was mentioned on the back cover, I must admit that I was wary of reading it because of its ridiculous sounding name! Eventually I came around, which is lucky, because Weetzie Bat was a life changing experience.
Weetzie Bat is an amazing book. Its like being high/having a really good trip. Reading it made me want to be IN the story, and to write one just as enchanting as it. Weetzie and her magical menagerie have earned a permanent place not only on my bedside table, but also in my heart! (Cheesy.)
Weetzie Bat is amazing partly because it is a novel about serious issues disguised as a light, easy read. Do not be fooled by the pink cover or the whimsical characters, issues in the book include, but are not limited to, : AIDs, homosexuality, death, and drug addiction/alcoholism. READ WEETZIE BAT!

Rating:
Summary: Read it in an hour
Review: I absolutely love Block. I read this book in one hour. Block has a talent for weaving the supernatural with the modern world. It's like you know this magic could never happen, yet her writing keeps you believing it's happening as you are turning the pages. This novel allowed me to escape to a world that could never be, and I absolutely loved it!

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Summary: I dno bout happyily evr after, but i kno about happily :-)
Review: This book was AMAZING! i usually have problems reading cause i cant stay focused in a book, and i find bokos boring, but this book was unreal. I finished it in less than 2 hours. Im not gonna sit here and write what the story was about, just read it.. you will LOVE it

Rating:
Summary: weetzie bat
Review: this book was so good. weetzie bat lives in los angles but FLB makes it seem sort of like faeryland. anyways, weetzie meets dirk who is perfect but then she finds out he is gay so they llok for 'ducks' or guys together. Then dirk's grandmother gives weetzie a present that is a little genie lamp. weetzie makes three wishes. i love this book and i think that others will like it too. by the way, they're thinking of making a movie out of it.

Rating:
Summary: Combines fantasy and realism
Review: I liked this book because I grew up in Southern California and could relate to the variety of characters. My favorite character of course was Weetzie, who was a free spirit that did not let others do her thinking for her.

Rating:
Summary: This girl can't help it either
Review: You've got to be a very particular type of person to love the book "Weetzie Bat". The right reader is the one who is (or once was) into the quirky, crazy, and bizarre. Anyone who's ever felt at any time that sometimes life is just too darn frumpy should read this story. For me, "Weetzie Bat" won me over when its protagonist and her best friend went to see "The Girl Can't Help It" starring Jayne Mansfield. Any book that mentions that splendid splendid movie (it's right up there with "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?") has my unequivocal love. If you like books that create little worlds where reality is rarely fixed and true love conquers all (eventually) then you'll enjoy taking a wild and wacky run through the insatiable "Weetzie Bat".

Weetzie lives in L.A. and has just met a very cool guy named Dirk. The two are perfectly suited for one another in every way. Dirk wears his hair in a black mohawk and drives a '55 Pontiac. Weetzie sometimes wears feathered Indian headdresses and sometimes makes her clothes out of kids' bed sheets. Together they paint the town red and have wonderful times. When Dirk confesses to Weetzie that he's gay she's delighted. Now the two can go Duck hunting. But finding the right Duck is hard, and after too many bad dates and bad Ducks (which is pretty much the same thing) the two feel bad. Weetzie's one goal is to find her Secret Agent Lover Man. Then, one day unexpectedly, she's given three wishes. After being told that world peace and "a million more wishes" never really work she wishes for a Duck for Dirk, a Secret Agent Lover Man for herself, and a house for them all to live happily ever after in. When the wishes start coming true, things start getting REALLY interesting.

Author Francesca Lia Block is a big fan of sentences that use the word "and". Here's a typical Block sentence: "They all lived together and wore red and ate plantain and black beans, or wonton soup and fortune cookies, and made silkscreened clothing they sold on the boardwalk at Venice beach". She's a fan of the extravagant explanation and the outrageous description. If you're reading this book in the right mood, they're great. I found myself loving portions of this book, much to my surprise. Consider the following sentences, appearing after Weetzie gets a really good kiss: "A kiss about apple pie a la mode with the vanilla creaminess melting in the pie heat. A kiss about chocolate, when you haven't eaten chocolate in a year. A kiss about palm trees speeding by, trailing pink clouds when you drive down the Strip sizzling with champagne".

In the end, this book's just a big ole love letter to Los Angeles and teenage dream worlds. I can see why it's so popular and I can see it getting the same kind of audience as those people who loved, "Boy Meets Boy". For anyone who thinks they're just a little different from everyone else and that's a-okay, this book is for them. It's "Stargirl" all grown up. Some people need some magic in their lives. "Weetzie Bat"
delivers that magic hand over fist.