Francesca Lia Block | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 3, 1962 Los Angeles, California, US |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Period | 1989–present |
| Notable awards | Margaret Edwards Award 2005 |
| Children | 2 [1] |
Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature. She is known for the Weetzie Bat series, [2] which she began while a student at UC Berkeley.
Block was born in Los Angeles in 1962. Her mother was a poet and her father was the screenwriter and painter Irving Block. [3] She attended the University of California, Berkeley. [4] , and later studied for her MFA from the University of California at Riverside. [5]
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Block writes both novels and poetry. Her first two books, Moon Harvest (1978) and Season of Green (1979), were small-press illustrated poetry collections, now out of print. Since then, she has released several standalone collections of poetry, as well as incorporating poetry and lyrics into many of her novels. She has published over 40 books. [5]
Block did not originally start out with an editor, but was published by using her connections. She attributed her success partly to publishers being interested in shorter books. [6]
In 2014, Block was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College. [7] Block is a member of the Authors Guild, Authors League of America, and the Writers Guild of America.
In 2018, it was confirmed that Weetzie Bat would be produced as a feature film, with Justin Kelly attached as director. Block wrote the screenplay for the film. [8]
Block is known for her use of imagery, especially in describing the city of Los Angeles. [9] One New York Times Book Review critic said, "Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler." [10]
Weetzie Bat, or Dangerous Angels series
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House Of Hearts (Rare Bird Books, 2022)
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Susan Mary Cooper is an English author of children's books. She is best known for The Dark Is Rising, a contemporary fantasy series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the Arthurian legends and Welsh folk heroes. For that work, in 2012 she won the lifetime Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association, recognizing her contribution to writing for teens. In the 1970s two of the five novels were named the year's best English-language book with an "authentic Welsh background" by the Welsh Books Council. In 2024, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named her the 40th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.
Tamora Pierce is an American writer of fantasy fiction for teenagers, known best for stories featuring young heroines. She made a name for herself with her first book series, The Song of the Lioness (1983–1988), which followed the main character Alanna through the trials and triumphs of training as a knight.
Lois Ann Lowry is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for young audiences.
Cynthia Voigt is an American writer of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse. Her first book in the Tillerman family series, Homecoming, was nominated for several international prizes and adapted as a 1996 film. Her novel Dicey's Song won the 1983 Newbery Medal.
Robert Edmund Cormier was an American writer and journalist, known for his deeply pessimistic novels, many of which were written for young adults. Recurring themes include abuse, mental illness, violence, revenge, betrayal, and conspiracy. In most of his novels, the protagonists do not win.
Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer, known for children's and young adult novels. She received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2010 for her contribution to young adult literature and 2023 she received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
Nancy Garden was an American writer of fiction for children and young adults, best known for the lesbian novel Annie on My Mind. She received the 2003 Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association recognizing her lifetime contribution in writing for teens, citing Annie alone.
The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by Booklist magazine; administered by the ALA's young-adult division, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA); and named for the Topeka, Kansas, school librarian Mike Printz, a long-time active member of YALSA. Up to four worthy runners-up may be designated Honor Books and three or four have been named every year.
Weetzie Bat is the debut novel of Francesca Lia Block, published by HarperCollins in 1989. It inaugurated her Dangerous Angels series for young adults.
Markus Zusak is an Australian writer. He is best known for The Book Thief and The Messenger, two novels that became international bestsellers. He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2014.
Sonya Sones is an American poet and author. She has written seven young adult novels in verse and one novel in verse for adults. The American Library Association (ALA) has named her one of the most frequently challenged authors of the 21st century.
Jacqueline Woodson is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for Miracle's Boys, and her Newbery Honor-winning titles Brown Girl Dreaming, After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers, and Show Way. After serving as the Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, she was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, by the Library of Congress, for 2018 to 2019. Her novel Another Brooklyn was shortlisted for the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction. She won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2018. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020.
Jennifer Donnelly is an American writer best known for the young adult historical novel A Northern Light.
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of libraries to better serve teens. YALSA administers several awards and sponsors an annual Young Adult Literature Symposium, Teen Read Week, the third week of each October, and Teen Tech Week, the second week of each March. YALSA currently has over 5,200 members. YALSA aims to expand and strengthen library services for teens through advocacy, research, professional development and events.
The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
The Margaret A. Edwards Award is an American Library Association (ALA) literary award that annually recognizes an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". It is named after Margaret A. Edwards (1902–1988), the pioneer, longtime director of young adult services at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
Martine Leavitt is a Canadian-American writer of young adult novels and a creative writing instructor.
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.
Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret A. Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature."
Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People's Poet Laureate.
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