''Dangerous Angels'', also known as the Weetzie Bat series, is a

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

series by

Francesca Lia Block Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature. She wrote the '' Weetzie Bat'' series, which she began while a student at UC Berkeley. Early life and education Block was born in Los Angele ...

. The series consists of seven novels: '' Weetzie Bat'', '' Witch Baby'', ''

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys ''Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys'' (1993) is the third book in the Dangerous Angels series by Francesca Lia Block Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature. She wrote the '' Weetzie ...

'', '' 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 Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The books include

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

elements such as

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

, genies, and

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

s, and has been described as

magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

or mythpunk. The series title first appeared on the

omnibus edition An omnibus edition or omnibus is a book containing multiple creative works by the same or, more rarely, different authors. Commonly two or more of the works have been previously published as books, but a collection of shorter works, or shorter w ...

of the first five books, ''Dangerous Angels'', first published in 1998. . The omnibus edition was

reprint A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields. Academic publishing In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known ...

ed 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

* '' Weetzie Bat'' (1989): Weetzie Bat meets Dirk, who is gay, at school, and they become best friends. Together they have adventures around Los Angeles, comforting each other when they get hurt on their quests to find their ducks, or

soulmate A soulmate is a person with whom one feels a deep or natural affinity. This affinity may involve similarity, love, romance, comfort, intimacy, sexuality, sexual activity, spirituality, compatibility, and trust. The idea of ''soulmates'' orig ...

s. Dirk's Grandma Fifi gives Weetzie a genie lamp which grants her her three wishes and their lives change forever. * '' Witch Baby'' (1991): Witch Baby is a purple-eyed girl who lives with Weetzie Bat. My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man and the rest of the family do not know where she belongs in the world. Tired of tormenting her sister, Cherokee, Witch Baby meets a boy named Angel Juan who she instantly knows is her soulmate and through him, realizes what a family should be. She goes on a quest to find her mother in hopes of finding out where she belongs, only to find out that her mother does not care about her. In the end, she misses her family and realizes it is with them that she belongs. * ''

'' (1992): The adults in the family are away filming their new movie, leaving Cherokee to look after Witch Baby, who misses Angel Juan so desperately that she has locked herself in the shed refusing to eat. To lure her out, Cherokee makes a pair of wings which transform Witch Baby. The girls decide to start a band with Angel Juan and Raphael, but when they are to perform they all freeze up. Cherokee makes the rest of the band members magical items that make them very popular until they get caught up in drugs, sex, and jealousy. Cherokee takes away the magical gifts after realizing the effects they have had, and the band re-examines their choices. * '' Missing Angel Juan'' (1993): Angel Juan leaves for New York City and Witch Baby desperately misses him. When he stops writing to her, she knows something has happened to him. She goes in search of him, staying at the apartment of Weetzie Bat's deceased father, Charlie Bat, which is also haunted by him. Together, Witch Baby and the ghost of Charlie Bat trace Angel Juan to a ‘man’ named Cake, whom she must rescue Angel Juan from without getting captured as well. * '' Baby Be-Bop'' (1995): A

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the other stories, the book focuses on Dirk's life before meeting Weetzie Bat. While living with Grandma Fifi in high school, Dirk struggles with his sexuality and how to

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

to Pup, his best friend whom he thinks is his soulmate. Though Pup feels the same, he refuses to come out and starts dating a girl, leaving Dirk heartbroken. After being beaten up by homophobes, he starts dreaming of his

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

s, who help him come to terms with who he is through their life stories. *''Necklace of Kisses'' (2005): Disillusioned by adult life and a passionless marriage, Weetzie Bat moves to LA's Pink Hotel to find herself. There, she meets a variety of supernatural characters and regains her passion for life. *''Pink Smog'' (2012): This prequel novel describes Weetzie Bat's life as a

preteen Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is ...

, when she was still known as Louise Bat.

Major themes

The main theme throughout all of the ''Dangerous Angels'' stories is "tolerance through love". ''Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys'' is about the importance of loved ones and the natural and spiritual worlds. ''Witch Baby''s story is about the "danger of denying life's pain". ''Weetzie Bat'' is a transcendent

coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or interna ...

. 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". 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".

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". In 2005, Block received the

Margaret Edwards Award 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 aft ...

"for outstanding contributions to young adult readers", for the Weetzie Bat books.

''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 West Bend is a city in Washington County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,752. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History Early history and settlement Northeastern Washi ...

, where several parents' groups insisted that the book, among others, be removed from the local public library and publicly burned.

Awards

References

{{Reflist 1998 American novels American young adult novels Novels by Francesca Lia Block Novels set in Los Angeles LGBTQ speculative fiction novels Young adult novel series American LGBTQ novels