Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The reason Weetzie Bat hated high school was because no one understood..." (more)
Key Phrases: witch baby, slinkster dog, niña bruja, Angel Juan, Secret Agent Lover Man, Charlie Bat (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lanky lizards! The slinkster-cool novels in Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat series have finally been compiled into one delicious volume. All of the ethereal, mesmerizing titles are here--Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop--together like the big, beautiful family described on their pages. Block's unique, poetic style immediately draws readers into an intoxicating magical-realist world populated by empathetic, original characters (as well as a few ghosts, fairies, and genies): "He kissed her. A kiss about apple pie à 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. A kiss about spotlights fanning the sky and the swollen sea spilling like tears all over your legs."

We cheer for these young women and men as they struggle with the universal trials of growing up, finding love, and letting go--all within the vivid, glittering, urban embrace of Los Angeles. Block's stories about finding yourself, being true to your dreams, and believing in what might seem impossible will inspire teens and adults alike with the resounding messages of hope and the transformative power of love. --Brangien Davis

Review

"A Sensualist's paradise..." -- Spin

"Transcendent." -- New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (January 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064406970
• ISBN-13: 978-0064406970
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love is a dangerous angel..., November 16, 1998

By	Andrew Faehnle (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

I'd read the whole Weetzie Bat series before purchasing this book, but the problem was that no-one I'd loaned my individual copies of the stories to ever returned them. (Which may, in and of itself, be a testament to the kick-butt slinkster coolness that is intrinsically a part of this book.)

So anyway, as I was falling in love with a girl with whom I go to college, I read her Weetzie Bat. It was really cool. Especially the part in which My Secret Agent Lover Man expresses his undying love for Weetzie (I liked the part about "You are my martini..."). Since that time (about a month ago), however, this person has emotionally crucified me, and started dating an extremely goofy-looking boy.

Alas, that's the life portrayed in Ms. Block's novellas: hartbreaking and inspiring, exhilirating and melancholy. Read as modern day fairy-tales, they are wonderfully crafted pieces of fiction. Not surprisingly, however, I've read many scathing reviews of this series on Amazon.com. I think that for people to review it poorly, they have to miss the point--that these are fairy-tales. I wouldn't want a 13-year-old kid reading this as an instruction guide to life, but then again, how many people take fiction that seriously? (At least a few people do, as evidenced by the reviews.)

As with all fairy-tales, there is a moral behind the narrative: that love and universal acceptance goes a long way to make people happy, to heal hurt, and to generally make the world a better place--but also that things that some people take for love (that is, sex) can be devastating and hurtful. Love *IS* a dangerous angel. On that level, this book is not only a beautiful piece of prose, but of perhaps immeasurable value to a world torn by conflict, hurt, and hate. I just wish that more people would see the good in this book, instead of the bad.

(Good for high-school aged and up readers, but I'd probably have it tempered by parental guidance for anyone younger than, say, 15.)

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Magic and Find an Angel...*/^i^\*, May 27, 2000

By	"gooseobsession" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This book has become my bible. I think I've read it 8 times in six months. It's almost become an escape for me. When life depresses me, I read about Weetzie & Co., and I see that they go through hard times, but things turn out all right if you have love in your heart. I always feel rays of hope throughout my soul after reading it. I remember that although the world is full of pain, there is so much good in it as well. I've recommended it to about a million people, because it is the best book I have ever read. I wish I could move into their house in the canyon and live in the place where it's hot and cool, glam and slam, angels and devils, Los Angeles.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In danger of being "banned in NH", March 30, 2005

By	Bindlestiff (rixtertech.com) - See all my reviews

A tiny cramped mind is trying to get this book banned from the curriculum at Mascenic High here in NH. The "parent" (I use the term in its loosest sense) says it's "disgusting". Sounds like a sure reason to read and recommend a work of literature to me.