i was a teenage fairy by francesca lia block

It is impossible to describe the plot without pressing it flatter than one of Lady Cottington's fairies, but all the threads come together into a fairy-tale ending, from the gritty nasty thread of child abuse to the sparkling magical thread Mab provides. She hooks up with actor Todd Range, who gives her love and attention and shows her how to play, and whose friend Griffin shares a terrible bond with Barbie. She would rather be on the other side of the camera taking pictures, but lacks the drive to defy her mother and pursue that dream. Mab is a comfort to Barbie, a bit of magic in her world of domineering mothers and pedophile photographers.Īt 16, Barbie is established as a teen model, still accompanied by Mab. (Yes, she's named for the doll.) She encounters Mab when she is 11, a sassy smart-mouthed girl with wings no bigger than her pinky. Her most recent effort, I Was a Teenage Fairy, follows in a similar vein but is grounded more in a semblance of reality, although the larger-than-life aspects are still present.īarbie Marks, daughter of a former beauty queen whose career never took off, is living out her mother's dreams. Four more novels with the same characters followed. Francesca Lia Block, I Was a Teenage Fairyįrancesca Lia Block established herself as a writer with a difference 10 years ago with the publication of her slim young adult novel Weetzie Bat, a book set in a kind of fairy-tale version of Los Angeles.

I was a teenage fairy by francesca lia block