Dirk has always known he was different. Living with his grandmother, he has a near perfect life with the beach, surfing, and a red-and-white 1955 Pontiac convertible. But to keep this peace, Dirk believes he must hide what makes him different. He searches for ways to fit in and yet never can. Then, in a night of magic and ghosts, he discovers his past and how love is always right, no matter what form it takes.
Impression: I have to admit, this one had me almost crying and I think is my favorite of the series. In Baby Be-Bop, we are told the story of Dirk, a character who we met in book one, and got to know a little better in book 2, then left behind as Block explored the lives of the children in the unique family she has created for this series. She returns to him and through his story shows how the past is part of what makes us who we are and the importance of self-acceptance and love. From the story she weaves here, we can clearly see how he became the man we see in the earlier books.
While her use of her world's magic is as heavy handed as it was in the past book (and more obvious than in the first 3 books), it is actually much better intertwined through the story, thus making it far more believable. It's also helpful that Block didn't use coincidence as a major part of the plotline for this particular book. It's very well written and a very touching story. While I haven't been too sure about the previous four books, I do recommend Baby Be-Bop. Which makes it a very good thing that it can easily be read without having read any of the previous books in the series.
Angel Juan decides to go to New York City to think, to discover more of who he is, and leaves Witch Baby behind, saying they need the time apart. Torn and lost without him, Witch Baby follows and searches for him in the vast wilderness of N.Y.C. While there, she meets the ghost of her "almost grandfather," discovers a whole different kind of magic that brings the past into the present, and faces one of the many dangers a large city like New York poses for young people.
Impression:Missing Angel Juan took another surprising turn in how it was written - it's the first book in the series written in first person. For the first chapter or so, I felt a little off, having become used to Bolt's third person style for the book. Beyond that, I felt kind of ambivalent about the story. While well written in Bolt's unusual style, the magic she's imbued her world with became far more obvious. And I found it more than a little unlikely that any parent would let a child under 18 run off to New York over the holidays alone, and the number of coincidences that occurred to bring Witch Baby and Angel Juan back together were just a little too much. Once coincidence, sure, two maybe. But in a city as large as N.Y., even that is pushing it, and in Missing Angel Juan, Bolt pushed that number right of the edge of believability. The heavy handed use of "magic" also threw me since the magic of the previous four books has been a lot more subtle. However, despite this, the story was relatively enjoyable. It had more of a fairy tale feel than the previous books. If Bolt hadn't stepped so far out of the usual boundaries for the book, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.
With Weetzie Bat and company off shooting another movie, their children are left to their own devices under the care a friend, Coyote. While they are gone, Witch Baby has fallen into a melancholy and her "almost-sister," Cherokee, goes to Coyote to ask for help in cheering her up. She makes Witch Baby a pair of wings from feathers he has the wind bring in and she gifts them to Witch Baby at her birthday party. Then Angel Juan reappears, having return from Mexico, and the foursome - Angel Juan, Witch Baby, Raphael and Angel Juan - form a band called The Goat Guys. They practice but their first show is a disaster. In an attempt to fix it, Cherokee makes more gifts and soon the band is more successful than they ever dreamed. But they find the temptations of success hard to resist and soon Cherokee and Witch Baby are more unhappy than when they had no success at all.
Impression: This was the hardest of the three books so far to keep focused on. As a result, it took 3 or 4 days to read instead of getting through it in one night. The story is a warning against growing up too fast, too early, and the temptations that surround teenagers in today's world. In the end, the children in the book discover that these things do not make them happy and return back to a more peaceful and fulfilling lifestyle. It remains to be seen if this return to what was before the sex and drugs and rock 'n roll fame has an impact on the youngster - for that I'll need to read future stories, but in this book it was almost too . . . naive. The implication to me was that you can go back and everything will return to what it once was, but this is very rarely a true thing.
Block's writing remained the imaginative delight it has been, with her creative phrasing and unique names, but the story itself needed a little more at the ending. Something to show that scars can remain from such things. Without it, her warning is weak at best, and not to be taken seriously at worst. The theme is good, and a story that gives such a warning is a good idea in an era where it's almost expected that young people will be involved in such things, but it's useless if there's no reason to give that warning meaningful consideration.
Unknown to everyone except My Secret Agent Lover Man and Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby is the daughter of My Secret Agent Lover Man and a mysterious woman who is a part of the "Jayne Mansfield Club." While watching her family celebrate the successful completion of another movie, Witch Baby sees that everyone is paired except her, even the dogs, Slinkster Dog an Go-Go Girl, and she begins to ask the question, "What time are we upon and where do I belong?" From that day on she embarks on a journey to find where she belongs. She meets a young man who could be her love, until he's taken from the country by immigration; is a stowaway to meet Duck's family; and searches the City of Angels to find her place. She works through her feelings of alienation and explores the "darker" side of herself on her way to creating her own sense of "What time she is upon and where she belongs."
Impression: I think I enjoyed Witch Baby more than Weetzie Bat. The story felt fuller and delved a bit deeper into the characters, even though it was only a few pages longer than the previous book. I love how Block covers the "important" issues of most teens in a whimsical way with a bit of magic and a bit of seriousness thrown in. It was easier to see the theme of this book, which was also nice. I like the way she approaches the themes and the imaginative quality of these books so far. The style takes a little getting used to, but it's a very creative way of using language, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Weetzie Bat is given three a genie in a bottle by a friend's grandmother and makes 3 wishes: for her friend to find his Duck, for her to find her Secret Agent Lover Man, and for them to all have a house to live in. She gets exactly what she wishes for, but finds even wishes fulfilled have obstacles to overcome on the way to Happily Ever After.
Impression: This first book of Dangerous Angels was a quick and satisfying read. And I do mean quick: 45 minutes. Even so, Weetzie Bat was not what I expected. These books were recommended by a friend, but I wasn't expecting a y. a. book - not to say y. a. books are bad since I do read others, just that it wasn't what I expected. And while I call it a y. a. book, it has the sense of being more between y. a. and adult as it explores issues that some parents may not want the lower end of the y. a. audience exposed to (though I'll more than likely either get my 15 year old a copy or let her read this one when I'm done).
Block writes in a light, quick voice, but uses language in unexpected ways. Her description fell just a little short for me, though this wasn't that much of a problem since the book is set in contemporary L.A., but her other imagery is wonderful and evocative. It'll be interesting to follow Weetzie and her family - Dirk, Duck, My Secret Agent Lover Man, Witch Baby, and Cherokee Bat through the remaining 4 books in this omnibus. The books are definitely unique: growing up L.A. in a series of modern day fables with magical genies and contemporary issues. I probably never could have written anything like this, but it does make me wish I had thought of it. ;)
Unless otherwise noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by me.
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