"Block is the genre-defying angel of the literati who breathes magical life into even the most mundane events in her character's lives. [She] is the mistress of crafting incandescent poetic prose, tales of pain, loss and the healing redemptive powers of love that transcend gender, time and even reality." —Staten Island Press

RUBY
"... fairy tale simplicity combined with wrenching emotional realism, served with a hefty side of over-the-top romance..."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
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NECKLACE OF KISSES
"Necklace of Kisses is the most lustrous gem in the necklace of Weetzie Bat stories. I read it on the plane and had to hide my tears from the woman seated next to me."
—John Cameron Mitchell

"The self-parody is as wonderful as ever -- Weetzie doesn't have to save the world; she can just go shopping -- and, as always, the magic is in the detail: wearing her raspberry snakeskin sandals, dipping her roll in olive oil and basil, surreal stuff happens... the celebration of the silly and the magical in a scary, sad world will appeal to all those once-teen fans who remember Weetzie and, just like her, now need a rewrite."
—Booklist

"Weetzie's many fans will most appreciate this reunion...but those just meeting Block's whimsical entourage and sparkling prose will also appreciate the book's message: that magic can be found in stolen moments and, in Dirk's words, though 'love is a dangerous angel,' it's well worth the risk."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
READ A REVIEW and Q & A with Francesca from Publisher's Weekly where Necklace of Kisses received a starred review. [you need Adobe Acrobat to open the file]

"Lovely language and ambitious ideas..."
- Kirkus Reviews

"With vivid imagery, Block has conjured another enchanting and lyrically surreal journey of love and self-discovery."
- Library Journal

"Block's fairy tale of personal transformation succeeds as a great summer read -- a fizzy cocktail of Joseph Campbell, Sex and the City,and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, filtered through the blunt-edged poetry of rock lyrics. Necklace of Kisses is a welcome reminder that midlife is still ripe for magic."
- Time Out New York

"Block uses the fairy take morif as a vehicle to convey the tangled-up truths that girls face on the road to becoming women. Through Weetzie and other characters, [Block] explores both societal and personal fears surrounding sexuality, power, food, death , drugs, love, creativity, depression, and lonliness in ways that are as inspiring as they are transgressive."
- Bust Magazine

"Lyrical...Weetzie is something like the hipster step-child of J.K. Rowling and Judy Blume...Necklace of Kisses offers Weetzie a chance to come to terms with who she was and who she has become, and the result is a heartfelt work of adult fantasy that sings in many voices....Necklace of Kisses also reinforces what a lyrical but economical writer Block is. One of the best books of the summer
- Salon.com

"Great read"
- People

"The punk rock loving, thrift store dressing denizen of Los Angeles' West Side is back among the colorful, smog-filtered sunsets and brightly painted boulevards that have long inspired the muse of her creator."
- Associated Press

"Shot through with doses of magic realism, this ethereal novel looks at the life of a middle-age woman through kaleidoscopic glasses."
- Chicago Tribune

"Block's California-style magical realism makes for a fantastical trip....Her richly descriptive language and gift for mixing fairy-tale elements with universal themes will make you an instant fan."
- Redbook Magazine

GUARDING THE MOON
"... incredibly intimate and intensely spiritual. It is a unique contribution to parenting books and an important one. Block does not speak for all new mothers but shares her story in such a moving way that makes it highly readable and recommendable.
—Book Reporter
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"... A lyrical, poetic vision of the early moments and months that are so precious and hard to describe... Block illuminates the myriad ways in which her child has transformed her vision of the world, in language that sings.
—Publishers Weekly

NYMPH
"... a tour of a tragic, dreamy LA; it's [Block's] dirty urban fables book, and it manages to be wry, apt and hot enough to light my fire."
—Kirkus Reviews

"... Block's tales feature her distinctive simplicity and sweetly sleazy downtown dreamers..."
—Publishers Weekly

ECHO
"[Echo] begs not just to be read, but to be reread and savored"
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[Block] is the sorceress of iridescent language."
—Kirkus Reviews

THE ROSE AND THE BEAST
"Intoxicating... Heady... The darkness of these conflicts and subjects proves the strength of the magic [Block] describes: the transfiguring power of love."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[Block] uses language like a jeweled sword, glittering as it cuts to the heart."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

An L.A. Times bestseller

GIRL GODDESS #9
"Stories that radiate empathy, pithiness, and vibrant irreverence."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"These small dazzlers explore enduring values and provide a diverting take on facets of contemporary teen culture."
—Kirkus Reviews

THE HANGED MAN
"Though its cast is new and its tone considerably more somber, this intoxicating if painful work shares with Block's earlier novels a magic-tinged Los Angeles setting... Disturbing but ultimately exhilarating."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

I WAS A TEENAGE FAIRY
"The prose sustains steady crescendos of insight."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

VIOLET AND CLAIRE
"Block's writing is as lush and luminous, as hip and wise as ever."
—Publishers Weekly

WEETZIE BAT
"... Always hip without ever losing her bracing naivete, way cool without a cynical bone in her body, she careens across a shimmering '80s Wonderland of futuristic diners and retro-martini lounges and exotic hot dog stands that's half Hell-A and half Shangri-L.A., where love is the most dangerous angel in a city full of them."
—Salon.com--Five great contemporary novels about Los Angeles.

DANGEROUS ANGELS: THE WEETZIE BAT BOOKS
"Transcendent."
—The New York Times Book Review

"A poetic series of books celebrating love, art, and the imagination, all in hyper-lyrical language.... Tenderly intoxicating."
—Spin

"Lyrical, resonant fables, which always point back to the primacy of family, friends, love, location, food and music. At once modern and mythic, her series deserves as much space as it can command of daydream nation's shrinking bookshelves."
—The Village Voice

"[Block's] extravagantly imaginative setting and finely honed perspectives remind the reader that there is magic everywhere."
—Publishers Weekly