Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys [Hardcover]

Francesca Lia Block (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1992

With their parents away, four young people form a rock band that becomes wildly popular, carrying them into a "freer" life than they can cope with.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Weetzie Bat and Witch Baby will be delighted with this latest opportunity to reenter Block's magical vision of Los Angeles. With the grown-ups who make up the Bat household off making a film in South America, Cherokee and her "almost-sister" Witch Baby are left to their own devices. The adventure begins when Cherokee, acting on the advice of the family's mystic friend Coyote, makes a pair of wings for Witch Baby in order to lift her from the deep, mud-eating gloom into which she has fallen. Raphael and Angel Juan--the two other members of The Goat Guys, the rock band Cherokee and Witch Baby have formed--soon have magical costumes, too. But as the band's fame grows, the costumes exert a corrupting influence on the teenagers. The band's gradual immersion in sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll certainly is enthralling but many readers will be relieved when the group finally decides to abandon the dangerous activities that have clouded its members' individual roads to self-discovery. And much to her credit, Block's satisfying ending suggests that Weetzie Bat and her extended family--true to their characters--take the teenagers' experimentation and rebellion in stride. This latest effort provides yet another delicious and deeply felt trip to Block's wonderfully idiosyncratic corner of California. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-12-- Zany characters, pop culture, the California scene, and finely crafted language combine to tell an emotionally charged story with a contemporary message. Cherokee Bat and al most-sister Witch Baby are left behind when their parents go to South America to make a film. When Witch Baby stops eating and starts withdrawing into herself, Cherokee has to save her. Nothing seems to work until Angel Juan, Witch Baby's special childhood friend, returns from Mexico. Enlisting another friend on guitar, the four start a band, the Goat Guys, but only with the help of mystical powers does it become a hit. Success, however, has a price, and every thing begins to fly apart in wild and outrageous ways. Block has once again created a brief but entertaining and involving story. Her characters are odd, but somehow enchanting. Readers come to care about them in their childlike inno cence. The story isn't didactic, but illustrates the importance of family, friends, love, caring for the natural world, and maintaining order in the spiritual world. The fairy-tale quality of the book, its contemporary scene, and its modern language will appeal to teen readers, particular ly those who have enjoyed Weetzie Bat (1989) and Witch Baby (1991, both Harper Collins) .
- Gail Richmond, Point Loma High School, San Diego
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 116 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books; 1st edition (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060202696
• ISBN-13: 978-0060202699
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,645,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, recipient of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. has been publishing novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and poetry since 1989. Her work has been translated into many languages. Ms. Block lives in Los Angeles where she teaches writing workshops that are also available online.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable continuation of series, September 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (Weetzie Bat) (Paperback)

All in all an enjoyable continuation of the Weetzie Bat series, but I could have used more of the initial characters. On the other hand, using the younger characters does make the book more accesible to teenage readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Age Indian Magic, February 11, 2000

By 

"miss_witch" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (Weetzie Bat) (Paperback)

I would have to say that this is another great work of art from Block, i havn't seen or read anything like it since Catcher in the Rye!It is beautifuly detailed, and has a superb use of words that tells their own story along with the book.It is so enchanting and mezmorizing that you wont want to put it down!It pulls you in with the words and squeezes you until you burst with rays of light!It makes you look deep inside yourself and see who you really are and were. It describes LA through a teenage personality with smoking and drinking and always getting into messes,It has everything that a book should have; love,drugs,sorrow,jealousy... it will amaze you and make you want to read it over and over again... i strongly sugjest having this book, along with the rest of the series: Weetzy Bat,Witch Baby, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop, which i have all read. Get it ! You'll LOVE it!

4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful and poignant YA novel., September 7, 2010

By 

Elizabeth A. Hart (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (Weetzie Bat) (Paperback)

In Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys the story arc in the Dangerous Angels series continues. What started with Weetzie Bat and Witch Baby continues in this book with the kids now teenagers and the adults in the household all out of town filming a movie in South America. Naturally Cherokee, Witch Baby, Raphael Chong Jah-Love and soon even Angel Juan, who makes a reappearance, run into trouble.

In a lot of ways I think this book is the most distinctly YA novel in the series. It focuses on the younger generation and problems unique to youth: self image, relationships, finding yourself, growing up.

At the start each of the four characters feels inadequate in one way or another. When they perform on stage they freeze up, when they try and initiate a relationship with someone else they feel rejected or aren't even brave enough to make the attempt, they feel bare, defenseless and powerless in an overbearing world. Coyote, a Native American friend of the family, steps in and offers to help Cherokee create gifts from nature (wings from feathers, goat pants from goat fur) to give each of the four teens outward strength from material things to solve inward problems. Naturally these objects are magical in nature, and naturally they unintentionally result in more problems then they solve.

The rest of the book covers the uncomfortable, dizzying and at times exhilarating descent into a world of late night jams and eventual sex, drugs, smoking, drinking and all night parties. This is where the book had most of its power. To show these things in both the positive (exhilarating, powerful, ego enhancing) and the negative (exhausting, damaging to health both mental and physical, losing control). This is something teens can see and relate to from a source they will listen to as well.

By the end of the book the teens must learn to pull their strength from inside themselves instead of their material trappings and learn how to help each other step back from the edge of self destruction. A powerful and poignant YA novel. Highly recommended.