Book: I Was A Teenage Fairy

Francesca Lia Block

Young Adult
HarperTeen / 2000
PaperBack / 192 Pages
Standalone

Once upon a time, in the bubble-gum-snapping, glitter polish-wearing, lip-gloss-applying San Fernando Valley, a gentle girl named Barbie met a feisty fairy named Mab: "Maybe Mab was real. Maybe there really are girls the size of pinkies with hair the color of the darkest red oleander blossoms and skin like the greenish-white underbellies of calla lilies.... But it doesn't matter if Mab is real or imagined, Barbie thought, as long as I can see her." Mab, with her crabby commentary and no-holds-barred opinions, gives Barbie the strength she needs to face the horrors casting a shadow over her life in sunny, shimmering California. How else could Barbie survive her over-perfumed, over-tanned, overbearing stage mother, dragging her daughter to modeling agencies in the gold-plated hope of reliving her younger days as a beauty queen? Or the "cadaver-pale skin" and "fleshy mouth" of Hamilton Waverly, the "crocodile pedophile" photographer who makes Barbie feel "like the doll she had been named for, without even a hole where her mouth was supposed to be"? Mab glimmers and gabs by Barbie's side throughout her teen years as she becomes a successful fashion model, falls in love, and endures all the troubles that come along for the ride--in addition to facing the black secret of her past.

I picked this book up because I love Francesca Lia Block



What I liked the Most?



What I liked the Least?



Review: From the opening words – “If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model with collagen-puffed lips and silicone-inflated breasts, a woman in a magenta convertible with heartshaped sunglasses and cotton candy hair” to the closing “Mab was the love, flying through night like an errant star that had longed to know, even briefly, what made planet Earth’s children weep and sing.” – I loved every single word of this book.



This is the story of a pretty girl betrayed & hurt – a girl who longs to be different. This is the story a petite punky pixie fairy – convinced she is the one who should be in the limelight. This is a story of overbearing mothers, pedophile photographers, androgynous angels, and beautiful boys.



Recommended to: Someone who likes her stories – you either like it or you don’t



Best Quote: “I bet he’s a biscuit-lover.”