Dirk MacDonald, a sixteen-year-old boy living in Los Angeles, comes to terms with being gay after he receives surreal storytelling visitations from his dead father and great-grandmother. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Embroidering her prose with lushly romantic imagery, Block returns to the world of Weetzie Bat for this keenly felt story. A prequel of sorts to Weetzie Bat, the novel opens while Weetzie's best friend Dirk is still a child, lying on his mat at naptime. ``Dirk had known it since he could remember''-known, that is, that he is gay. Tenderly raised by Grandma Fifi, famous for her pastries and her 1955 Pontiac convertible, Dirk struggles with love and fear: ``He wanted to be strong and to love someone who was strong; he wanted to meet any gaze, to laugh under the brightest sunlight and never hide.'' After his first heartbreak, with his closest friend (who cannot accept Dirk's love nor his own for Dirk), Dirk battles more fiercely for identity; beaten up by a gang of punks, he slumps into semiconsciousness and is visited by his ancestors, each telling a haunting, lyrical tale of love, faith and self-acceptance. What might seem didactic from lesser writers becomes a gleaming gift from Block. Her extravagantly imaginative settings and finely honed perspectives remind the reader that there is magic everywhere. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 10 Up‘A prequel to the popular books about Weetzie Bat and her circle of quirky friends and relatives. This novel is about her best pal, Dirk, in his pre-Weetzie days. He's in high school (in L.A., of course), living with Grandma Fifi and struggling with how to come out to his best friend and soulmate. Although Dirk never does tell Pup he's gay, Pup feels the sexual tension between them: "`I love you, Dirk,' Pup said. `But I can't handle it.'" In reaction, Dirk takes to slam dancing in punk joints. When a gang of gay bashers beats him up, he drags himself home and passes out. While he's unconscious, long-dead relatives he's never known come to him in what seem to be dreams; when he wakes in the hospital, he realizes that his grandmother has been telling him stories. Out of her comforting words about how others in his family have insisted on being themselves, his battered brain fashions hopeful hallucinations, including one of his future lover. His visions assure him that ``There was love waiting; love would come.'' Block writes distinctively and convincingly, interweaving the hallucination scenes smoothly. She makes the power of stories felt‘and here, more purposefully than ever before, she weaves a safety net of words for readers longing to feel at home with themselves. Gay teens in particular need this book. All fans of the series will relish meeting nice-guy Dirk as the tender Baby Be-Bop.‘Claudia Morrow, Berkeley Public Library, CA From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 8-12. "Dirk had known it since he could remember." The novel's opening sentence is the coming-out statement that enables the story of how Dirk becomes Baby Be-Bop to unfold. From his earliest awareness, Dirk had known that he didn't want to be afraid, not like so many gays he had watched. His Grandma Fifi said it was a phase, and Dirk willed her to be right--until he met and fell in love with Pup. When Pup confesses that he cannot handle his feelings for Dirk, Dirk's self-loathing is complete. He wallows further and further into self-hate. Then, in an attempt to save his life, Grandma Fifi tells him the stories of their family's love. Block captures the essence of happiness simply by describing a room or the ingredients of a sandwich. She captures the essence of love in passages of shared conversation and in her portrayal of word-filled glances and emotions. She also conveys a sense of acceptance and validation. This is her gift to young people who have known since they could remember that they too wanted--and deserved--love. Librarians who are daring--and caring--enough to include this evocative, skillfully wrought, and sometimes surrealistic novel in their YA collections will help teenagers begin their adult journey toward love and the realization that, as Dirk's great-grandmother Gazelle says, "Any love that is love is right." (Reviewed Oct. 1, 1995)0060248793Frances Bradburn From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.