A decent collection of stories about different girls, some of these deal with alternative lifestyles (such as Tuck Budd) and others deal with things like suicide. Overall if one is not overly sensitive to certain subject matters, this is an good read for a teenage girl.

This was the first book I ever hid from my parents. It made me feel high when I read it at 10 years old. It was my first taste of lyrical prose, magical realism, homosexuality, drugs, grief, and punk girls in combat boots. I can thank this book for who I am today.

this book caught me really off guard. whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that. with the exception of maybe one or two stories, each was lovely and distinct in its own way

Some of these short stories were terrific. Some I just skimmed over. Not my cup of tea but apparently others love it.

Gorgeous. Edgy, preternaturally aware adolescents stalk these pages like tigers. These short stories are as full as many novels. Where was Block when I was 14? Oh, right. Wikipedia says she was busy being 16. Better to have found her late than never to have found her at all. She's a champion of love, a cheerleader for the ballsy chicks who wear big clunky shoes with wispy skirts, an advocate for the odd and the broken.

Not sure what made me think of this but 20 years ago me gave this 5 stars absolutely.

Many of these settings, characters, and themes were upgraded and used in "I Was A Teenage Fairy". I would recommend this to people who wanted an introduction to FLB's work. It all shows clearly how poetically she can write, and that her target audience are disaffected, misfit teens who are navigating their own sexuality and gender, and being abused by one or more adults. "Dragons in Manhattan" and "Tweetie Sweet Pea" are exceptions to this. (Seriously, as an adult I realize -nearly all I read at...

This was my first FLB book at age 12. Nine short stories, less than 200 pages, and I had to read it over three separate days as an adult because of how low it brought me.So many of these stories struck me as utterly hopeless - especially Blue, The Canyon, and Rave. Those that had some ray of light were still quite dark. I enjoyed Winnie and Cubbie and Orpheus, which were my favorites from reading this collection as a teen - partially nostalgia and partially because they're strong stories with so...

Everything by Francesca Lia Block has a sameness to it. A shimmering LA teenage dream quality that gets old. The characters are almost indistinguishable in a way that makes them seem autobiographical (same taste in music, clothes, all vegetarian, etc). I give this one a solid meh.

Growing up as a teenager in the 90s, I was a voracious reader of Sassy magazine. Through Sassy, I learned of two female authors who forever helped shape my imagination: Poppy Z. Brite and Francesca Lia Block. Their work utterly transported me to imaginary landscapes so rich and varied that I can truly say that these books helped to shape me into the person I am today. I grew up without a computer in the house, forget the Internet (I didn't have that until college), a weird kid in Olathe, Kansas....

While I liked some of these stories, none of them really spoke to me and none of them were game-changing or even especially memorable.

Quotes:N/AStars: 2.5-3Review: ...What do I say about this book? I hate writing reviews for books I didn't like, because ugh. I usually love short stories, but when I read this, I didn't. Something my mom said to me not too long ago became apparent while reading this book -- She doesn't like short stories because it feels like they're rushed, packed in. Like the author is running out of time. That's how I felt when reading this. Like everything was jumping all over the place because Block needed

After being a formative part of the online FLB cult in early high school, I became hardcore disillusioned with her when I realized the many ways in which her work is problematic and fluffy. I maintain, though, that GG9 contains her best writing. There are some really powerful stories here. I can always rely on "Blue," "Pony and Pixie" and "Winnie and Cubby" to send my tear ducts into overdrive. And I named my first zine after the book the girls love in the title story. These stories are about lo...

I like some of the stories, the writing is still good and Ms. Block has an unique angel at looking at teenagers and their ways of living, but a few of the stories feel too short and unfinished.

Hmm. This wasn't what I expected. I'm not really a fan of the particular literary style this is written in, and I found myself skimming a lot. It's not necessarily bad, just not my cup of tea. I did love "Dragons in Manhattan," but the rest were pretty forgettable to me.

its actually revolutionary and made me sad that im not a little kid anymore. yes

Really good collection of stories.

As usual, I loved this book for the language. FLB uses such beautiful, lyrical prose. I wish I could write like her. She can find magic and beauty in such ordinary, everyday things. This was a sweet collection of short stories about coming of age and the pains of growing up. I like that some of the stories focus on more and more open issues that in the past were ignored or shunned--I particularly liked "Dragons in Manhattan" about Tuck's two moms, "Blue" about a girl dealing with her mom's death...

Meet La, whose mom commit suicide when La was really little. Meet Tuck, who doesn't know who her dad is but knows both of her moms. Meet Pony and Pixie, girls who are closer than sisters who aren't even best friends. Meet Winnie, who is in love with Cubby. Meet Cubby, who doesn't know how to deal with his issues in an honest way. I met all of these people (and more) in Girl Goddess #9, a book about all the Goddesses among the random world. Girls of all ages with all sorts of problems. From nine

I love Francesca Lia Block, but these stories were not particularly touching to me the way that the Weetzie Bat stories are. I think I prefer her descriptions of Los Angeles over the ones of San Francisco; I currently live in San Francisco and it's tremendously difficult for me to feel positive emotions about it. I saw her say something once on Facebook about Witch Baby feeling sad and having "lost herself among the gingerbread houses and fog"-- that captures how I feel much more accurately than...