Dangerous Angels

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Dangerous Angels
Dangerous Angels.jpg
First edition
Author Francesca Lia Block
Cover artist Suza Scalora
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult fiction
PublisherHarper Collins Publishers
Publication date
1998
Publication placeUSA
Media typePrint (paperback, e-book)
Pages478 (1st edition)
ISBN 0-06-440697-0
OCLC 526057852

Dangerous Angels, also known as the Weetzie Bat series, is a young adult fiction series by Francesca Lia Block. The series consists of seven novels: Weetzie Bat , Witch Baby , Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys , Missing Angel Juan , Baby Be-Bop , Necklace of Kisses and Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie Bat. The books follow main character, Weetzie Bat and her friends and family members, who all live in Los Angeles.

Contents

The books include supernatural elements such as witches, genies, and ghosts, and has been described as magical realism or mythpunk.

The series title first appeared on the omnibus edition of the first five books, Dangerous Angels, first published in 1998. . [1] The omnibus edition was reprinted in 2007 and again in 2010.

The novel series have won multiple awards such as the 1986 Shrout Fiction Award and the 1986 Emily Chamberlain Cook Poetry Award.

Plot summary

Major themes

The main theme throughout all of the Dangerous Angels stories is "tolerance through love". [2] Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is about the importance of loved ones and the natural and spiritual worlds. [3] Witch Baby's story is about the "danger of denying life's pain". [4] Weetzie Bat is a transcendent coming-of-age story. [5] The theme of Missing Angel Juan is stated by Michael Cart: "love, in its infinite varieties, is both humankind's natural estate and heart-magic strong enough to redeem any loss". [6] In Baby Be-Bop, the theme is finding love for oneself and the book is meant as "a safety net of words for readers longing to feel at home with themselves". [7]

Literary significance and reception

Anne Osborn says of Weetzie Bat that "Weetzie and her friends live like the lilies of the field, yet their responsibility to each other and their love for the baby show a sweet grasp of the realities that matter". [8]

In 2005, Block received the Margaret Edwards Award "for outstanding contributions to young adult readers", for the Weetzie Bat books. [9]

Baby Be-Bop controversy

In June 2009, Block's book Baby Be-Bop, which deals with the life of a gay teenager, was part of a controversy in West Bend, Wisconsin, where several parents' groups insisted that the book, among others, be removed from the local public library and publicly burned. [10]

Awards

AwardsYearResult
Shrout Fiction Award1986Winner [11]
Emily Chamberlain Cook Poetry Award1986Winner [12]
Best Books of the Year Citation ALA1986Winner [13]
YASD, Best Book Award, Recommended Books for Reluctant Young-Adult Readers1989Winner [14]
Phoenix Award2009Winner [15]
Recommended Books for Reluctant Young-Adult Readers,1990 [16]
ALA Best Books of the Year1991Winner [17]
Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Adult Readers1991 [18]

References

  1. "Reading Guide for Dangerous Angels from HarperCollins Publishers". HarperCollins Publishers. March 2, 2011. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
  2. Ramsay, Ellen. "Witch Baby". School Library Journal. 37 (1991): 277. Print.
  3. Richmond, Gail. "Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys". School Library Journal. 38 (1992): 274. Print.
  4. Ramsay, Ellen. "Witch Baby". School Library Journal. 37 (1991): 277. Print.
  5. Hearne, Betsy. "Weetzie Bat". New York Times Book Review 21 05 1989, Print.
  6. Cart, Michael. "Missing Angel Juan". School Library Journal. 39 (1993): 148. Print.
  7. Morrow, Claudia. "Baby Be-Bop". School Library Journal. 41 (1995): 218. Print.
  8. Osborne, Anne. "Weetzie Bat". School Library Journal. 35 (1989): 116. Print.
  9. "Margaret A. Edwards Award". Young Adult Library Services Association. American Library Association, 2010. Web. 5 Apr 2011.<http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/05block.cfm Archived 2011-02-21 at the Wayback Machine >.
  10. Miller, Laura (June 16, 2009). "A teen book burns at the stake: A Christian group hopes to set fire to library copies of Francesca Lia Block's novel about a gay boy coming of age". Salon . Salon Media Group. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  11. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>
  12. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>
  13. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>
  14. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>
  15. Crime Writers of Canada Archived March 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine www.crimewriterscanada.com. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  16. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>
  17. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>
  18. "Francesca Lia Block (1962-)." Something about the Author. Vol. 213. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 11-17. Something About The Author Online. Gale. Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. 7 April 2011 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SATA_Online/iulib_iupui/BH2178135006>