Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
Weetzie Bat
Pros
- Queer family
- Happy ending
- No homophobia
Cons
- Lacking detail
- Too fast-paced
- Characters lack depth
Title: Weetzie Bat
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Original Publication Date: 1989
Original Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Length: 128
Queer Representation: 2 gay male primary characters
The first modern queer young adult fairy tale and a novel that helps readers to believe in magic and happy endings.
Memorable Quote: “She knew they were all afraid. But love and disease are both like electricity, Weetzie thought. They are always there — you can’t see or smell or hear, touch or taste them, but you know they are there like a current in the air. We can choose, Weetzie thought, we can choose to plug into the love current instead.”
REVIEW:
In the first book of the young adult series that helped to define adolescence in the 1990s, Los Angeles is a magical town where fairy tales are real. When Weetzie Bat learns that her best friend Dirk is gay, the two immediately begin going out to pick up guys together. But this all changes when Dirk’s grandmother gives Weetzie a lamp with a genie and the opportunity to have three wishes come true. After trying unsuccessfully to wish for infinite wishes, Weetzie immediately asks the genie for soul mates for her and Dirk and a house for the four of them to live in.
This one magical moment allows Weetzie and Dirk, along with their newfound loves, My Secret Agent Lover Man and Duck respectively, to create their family together. But things grow more complicated when Weetzie wants to have a baby but My Secret Agent Lover Man does not. The result of this conflict is one that impacts all four characters in different ways, but eventually brings them all closer together than ever before.
Block weaves together an intricate tale that truly highlights her poetic artistry and her love for Los Angeles. While the story moves along at an incredibly fast pace, and there are several moments when more detail would have been welcomed, Block’s ability to address a number of highly emotional issues (including divorce, abuse, depression, suicide, and more) in such an artistic and poetic manner is truly remarkable. The true power in this novel, however, comes in its radical potential. While Block was among the first queer young adult writers to show that queer characters do not have to suffer because of their sexuality, it is her depiction of queer family that is especially worthy of praise. Block shows that family does not need to look like a mother and father with their children, nor does it need to look like two fathers with their children. According to Block, all that a family needs to work is love, and maybe a little magic from time to time.
