When I read the Weetzie Bat books a few years ago (collected conveniently in Dangerous Angels), I wished like mad I could time-travel and give them to my Bible-thumping, hell-fearing, closeted adolescent self. For the record, here’s the context of one of the Milwaukee Christian Civil Liberties Union’s complaints about Baby Be-Bop:
I am thankful to have had Dangerous Angels as a closeted adolescent. Those books and others by Block helped me through some tough times. It’s hard to believe that will all the bullshit going on in the country and in the world, that these people have time to sue a freaking library over this…
My sister calls my daughter Witch Baby because she has crazy hair. We loved those books as teenagers. They helped us feel connected, being city kids moved to a severely depressed rural area.
My love for Francesca Lia Block and specifically her Dangerous Angels books knows no bounds. As an uncomfortable adolescent and teenager, I read and re-read them constantly. Every suburban and rural junior high and high school should have these, along with librarians who can recognize what students could benefit from them (Thanks, Ms. Carmody!).
Well yes, clearly that use of the N-word is intended to incite violence against African-Americans. Coming from the mouths of such depraved young hooligans, the story effectively elevates the trucker to the position of role-model and hero.
Uhhhhhhh.
Um. “Hell of cool”?
@5, you beat me to it. Just reading that sentence made me lose ten points of IQ.
It should be, “That is hella cool, man”.
@5,6,7, you need to read the sentence in the context of the book — Block plays with language in a way suited to hyper-teenage-glampunk kids. She’s a smart writer; it works.
Never heard of this book or any sort of “christian civil liberties union”. Book looks cool, MCLU looks daff, and really i’m mainly just posting to check out how my new avatar looks.