How to (Un)cage a Girl

July 28, 2008
In what reads like confessional verse, Block (Weetzie Bat
) explores her trademark themes (like not feeling pretty “in city of movie-star beauties”) and more individual concerns (such as the nameless speaker's father's cancer diagnosis and her divorce). As Block's admirers expect, she expertly blends reality and fantasy: she references L.A. locations and real-life celebrities, and she also sprinkles in mystical creatures, such as a vampire who convinces two eager girls that his life “might look fun, but actually it kind of sucks” and a young woman born with a fish's tail. Mostly, though, these are women's stories: the author recounts the transformation from teen to mother, and shares others' stories, real and imagined. Block names the pressures that girls face growing up and, particularly in a section called “love poems for girls,” imparts advice: “expectations are for what you yourself create.” Fans of Block's work are best positioned to appreciate her credos; they will be awed by Block's consistently fertile imagination and her honesty in illuminating the dark moments of girls' and women's lives. Ages 14–up.

October 1, 2008
Gr 9 Up-These poems traverse the steep climb from girlhood to womanhood while unearthing the hard truths hidden within this journey. Divided into three parts"years at the asylum," "in the hair of the toxic blonde," and "love poems for girls"the collection touches on anorexia, self-love and loathing, parental relationships, superficiality, losing one's virginity, rape, and love and loss. Block celebrates womanhood, but not in a bubblegum, girl-power way. Plathian symbols abound, from pervasive father issues to Nazi comparisons to insane asylums, real and imagined. The poems feel simultaneously autobiographical and universal. While the death of the narrator's father in "a myth of love for girls" colors her search for a partner, the universal struggle of women to escape or find their father's image in future relationships is aptly captured. The final selections cross into the territory of life lessons learned well beyond the teen experience and perhaps ring too much like motherly advice, but the raw authenticity of the narrator's voice throughout overshadows any later departure. Teenage girls, especially sophisticated, angst-filled poetry readers, will devour this insightful and powerful collection."Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2008
Block once again mixes characters from fairy tale and mythvampires, mermaids, fairiesin this collection of urban poems that contrast menace and beauty; innocence and heartbroken experience; despair and bold confidence. As in her recent story collection, Blood Roses (2008), the works frankly discuss body image, sex, and love, and subjects that stretch into adult life, with poems about marriage, divorce, and motherhood. Luxuriant imagery of roses, feathers, and glitter contrast with dark, menacing scenarios of girls and women threatened by men and by their own brutal judgment, with vibrant, sometimes cruel Los Angeles as a constant backdrop. Eating disorders figure into many poems, as does advice on finding joy. There is hope in the beautiful title poem, which speaks about the limitless freedom that can come with self-acceptance, and young women will easily relate to the many selections about teen navet' and restlessness: just us girls all in shiny pink / waiting for something to happen. A stirring exploration of female suffering and empowerment, this will attract Blocks adult readers, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
This three-part collection includes forty-five autobiographical poems. Part one details Block's teenage years; part two follows her as an adult; part three contains "Love Poems for Girls." Readers will welcome advice from someone who not only understands their pain but also comes out a survivor. Block's poetry embraces the dark and the light: her heartfelt advice acknowledges both roses and thorns.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2008
This three-part collection of forty-five autobiographical poems is Block's most personal and revealing work for young adults yet. Part one, "Years at the Asylum," takes readers chronologically through the author's difficult teenage years; part two, "In the Lair of the Toxic Blonde," follows her still-difficult adult years; and part three contains "Love Poems for Girls." Coming on the heels of the first two sections, these final poems encouraging girls to love themselves carry a lot of weight. Readers will trust and welcome advice from this writer who not only understands their pain and self-hatred but has come out the other side a survivor. Teens in the throes of adolescence will especially appreciate that Block's poetry embraces the dark and the light: her heartfelt advice acknowledges both roses and thorns, and her use of archetypal fairy-tale motifs gives her writing more credence, speaking to something elemental in us all. Uber fans of FLB, privy to all the details of her personal life online, will get the most from this collection, but even the more casual readers of Block's novels will find much to linger over.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)