Not as good as the other Weetzie Bat books. The amount of magic is jacked way up to compensate for a less developed main character, and this basically takes over and obscures the plot. ( )

I vaguely remember reading [b:Weetzie Bat|44353|Weetzie Bat (Weetzie Bat, #1)|Francesca Lia Block|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392416825s/44353.jpg|946181] when I was in high school...I especially remember one of my friends thinking it was one of the greatest books ever written and I more or less agreed, but I remember absolutely nothing of it now. I don't even think I have it marked as read on GR!

This book stands alone though, which is good because I don't remember anything about Dirk. I'll probably pick up Weetzie Bat again, because I like Block's style of writing. It's like if an optimistic hippie designed the world while high, and you were listening to them describe while also being high. Everything is twee and zen and smells of patchouli. All of the main characters are pretty and well-meaning and have absolutely fabulous names. I wouldn't necessarily want to live there...I'm glad the book was short because it is rather precious. It was the perfect length to live in Block's cutesy world.

And of course I love a story about a gay kid. ( )

My first Block. Totally stands alone. I will read more, though. Brilliant and beautiful. I'm speechless, sorry. ( )

This book is sort of a prequel to the first in the series " Weetzie Bat". It is told through Weetzie's best friend Dirk and his fear of who he is. It deals with learning to love yourself and accepting who you are. ( )

5Q 3P (my codes)
Electric language, shimmering imagery, and fantastical optimism. Francesca's prose glitters and pulses with the energy of the raves frequented by Dirk. There's a rhythm to her sentences that captivates the reader, in this heartbreaking story of unaccepted love and desperate longing for acceptance and love. Dirk is a teenage boy who lives with his ethereal grandmother "in her cottage with the steep chocolate frosting roof, the birdbath held by a nymph, and the seven stone dwarfs in the garden" (p. 9). Dirk loves Pup, Pup is afraid to love anyone but girls. And so Dirk hides and reshapes himself and goes on long drives out into the night. Magic crackles in the background of most of the book, with occasional flares of realization and illumination. When an act of horrific violence brings Dirk low, he learns the importance of story--the difference between "de-story" and "re-story." Life might just be better now. Teens might need a little push to get into the book, but those that stick with it will yearn for more. ( )