Weetize Bat

A friend of mine is planning his first trip to LA…and no first trip to LA would be complete without Weetize Bat! One of my first literary obsessions, Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block, is the coolest young adult novel ever written. Published in 1989 it coincided perfectly with my accent to high school and the multitude of questions and confusions that accompany that right of passage. The minute these kooky characters entered my life I felt like I had known them for years. Little did I know at the time that these characters WOULD be part of my life, my future and my own story. This book has stuck with me for years and it wasn’t until this friend of mine was sharing his research, planning and most importantly his excitement with me about his trip to LA that I was reminded of the amazingly wacky, totally touching and completely LA story that is Weetize Bat. I’ve shared this book with many people over the years and I always knew that the ones who got it would be the ones who would hold a special place in my heart. To give you an idea of how fabulous this book is…

The first sentence from the chapter titled…

Shangri-L.A.:

“Weetzie and My Secret Agent Lover Man and Dirk and Duck and Cherokee and Witch Baby and Slinkster Dog and Go-Go Girl and the puppies Pee Wee, Wee Wee, Tennie Wee, Tiki Tee and Tee Pee were driving down Hollywood Boulevard on their way to the Tick Tock Tea Room for turkey platters.”

This is the first book in a series; the collection is called Dangerous Angles. However, Weetize is the original…and she still is!

Read it!