Block, Francesca L. (2000). I Was a Teenage Fairy. New York: HarperCollins, 192 pp.

Grade Range: 10-12

Genre: contemporary fiction

Summary and Critique

Barbie Marks is a beautiful, successful Los Angeles model with a career created by her mother. She has a tiny, talking fairy named Mab who is her companion throughout her dysfunctional life. Is Mab real? The reader is forced to ask and answer that question repeatedly during the novel. Certainly, Mab is a"straight talker"; she speaks with a wisdom apparently beyond the real Barbie's capabilities. Mab similarly appears to help another character, Griffin Tyler, as he and Barbie come to terms with the molestation both endured as children at the hands of an unscrupulous photographer. Barbie must also come to terms with her family—a mother who looked the other way while her daughter was sexually abused, and a father who abandoned his wife and child.

A post-modern fairy tale, this book beautifully combines fantasy and realism. Although the plot line might initially strike the reader as cliché, this novel is anything but trite. Block addresses real issues, even in the midst of fantasy. While the subject matter may be too intense for some adolescents, many students have enjoyed and can relate to this tale. This novel is highly recommended for reluctant high-school readers who appreciate the imaginative.

Themes/Topics

Families

Friends and Enemies

Challenges and Triumphs

Love, Sex, and Romance

Author Information

Francesca Lia Block currently lives in Los Angeles, the setting of most of her novels. In her twenties when Weetzie Bat was published, Block admits her initial surprise at her novels being geared toward an adolescent audience, because she assumed they would sell to people in their twenties like herself.

For more information on Francesca Lia Block:

http://www.francescaliablock.com/ Block's official home page, providing readers with biographical information, a bibliography, book reviews, related links, and contact information.

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-block-francesca.asp Interview with Block.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/12106/002-6964865-9999268 This particular site in an interview with the author conducted by Amazon.com.

Media Connections

Movies

Ever After (1998) Modern adaptation of Cinderella.

The Hobbit (1977) Animated film adaptation of Tolkien's novel. Bilbo Baggins must find the courage to help retrieve treasure from a dragon.

The Breakfast Club (1985) Five very different Teens learn about relationships, friendship, love, and cliques while serving detention together.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café (1991) A nursing home patient teaches a dissatisfied housewife how to be confident, content, and assertive.

My Family/Mi Familia (1995) – Explores the struggles and triumphs of three generations of a Mexican-American family, beginning with one man's emigration from Mexico to Los Angeles in the 1930s and concluding with his descendants in the 1990s.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) In this"Cinderella" type comedy, Toula, a thirty-something year-old woman from a traditional Greek family, meets and falls in love with a non-Greek man.

Shame (1987) A female attorney befriends a single father and his daughter and is determined to help the daughter find her voice after being date raped.

Online Resources

http://magzine.gurl.com/where/features/flb/ This is the Gurl Magazine website. It has a piece on the author and excerpts from her novels.

http://www.grouchy.com/angst/ This is a web partner with Powell Books. It offers criticisms of young adult novels. Under"Creativity" you can find I Was a Teenage Fairy.

http://www.self-esteem-nase.org/ National Association for Self-Esteem. Provides information about self-esteem as well as activities and resources for building self-esteem

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/ Official web site for the National Institute of Mental Health. Provides information on mental health issues.

http://www.genaustin.org/public/ The Girls Empowerment Network. Provides a variety of information for teenage girls as well as a forum for teenage girls to discuss various issues.

Related Texts

Forward, Susan and Chris Buck. (1989). Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life . New York: Bantam Books. 326pp. A self-help books for children who were emotionally abused or mistreated by their parents.

Donahue, Emma. (1997). Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins. New York: Harper Trophy. 228pp. A feminist re-telling of the classic fairy tales.

Morrison, Lillian (Ed). (2001). More Spice Than Sugar: Poems about Feisty Females. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 80pp. A short anthology of poems about heroic, inspiring, and strong women.

Greenfield, Laura. (2002). Girl Culture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 155pp. A primarily pictorial account of the lives of American teenage girls.

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. (1997). The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Random House, 267pp. Explores the changing emphasis from teenage girls'personalities and talents to their physical appearance over the past one hundred years.

Teaching Ideas

(1) "Creating Your Own Mab" Have students create their own"Mab." Students should ask themselves the following questions. Who do they want as a confidant? Why? What kind of character would he/she have? Would he/she be abrupt? Kind? Condescending? Once they have created their characters, and perhaps even drawn , painted, or sculpted them, have them to receive creative advice from their"Mabs" in a response journal format.

(2)"Contemporary Fairy Tales" Review some classic fairy tales with the students. Students will then update the classic fairy tales, and then perform these in class using either the Reader's Theater approach or actually memorizing their scripts.

(Review written by Holly Hungerford and edited by Jennifer E. Moore)