Honestly...not a fan. I appreciate poetry and even dabble in it at times, but unfortunately this one was not really my cup of tea. It was interesting to learn where the cover image art stems from and there were two note-worthy poems that I will mention more in my blog post, but overall, it wasn't for me. ( )

How to (un)cage a girl is a collection poems by Francesca Lia Block. It kind of feels like a coming of age story learning to love and take care of yourself. ( )

I just don't get it ( )

I really wish I had had this book as a teenager, or heck, even a year ago when I was having a lot of body image issues. I think it really addresses that topic well for girls, particularly those of us who really enjoy women's magazines and popular culture and struggle with the images portrayed therein. ( )

This slim volume of Weetzie Bat’s creator Francesca Lia Block’s poetry is a collection of subtle (and not-so-subtle) messages of feminism and what it means to grow up as a woman in this culture. The first section is a year-by-year series on the themes of sexual awakening and the need for independence from parents while still desperately needing parenting. The poems in this section give voice to the struggle to be an adult while still wanting to be taken care of, touching on the illness and death of a parent, body issues and sexuality, and the general goofiness of teens hanging out with their friends. The second section is on media images of women and the unfair expectations put upon girls in their adolescence. This short section is the weakest of the collection, full of references that are timely and relevant but will likely seem dated a few years from now. The third section (which makes up the majority of the book) is where the collection comes together, though. Titled "love poems for girls," they are exactly that, poems of empowerment and strength, of reassurance, of empathy. These are the poems that have the most useful, universal messages of valuing oneself and taking comfort in who you are.

While Block's language isn't always poetic in a flowy, flowery way, and her rhythm is not a strict iambic pentameter (or anything else, for that matter), the rhythm of her words has a lyricism to it that never feels clunky or forced. Her poems do sound like an adult talking to a teen, but never talking down to the teen. Sometimes all a girl needs is to know someone else has actually been there and lived through it.

This slim volume of poetry didn't always light my world on fire, but many of the poems are things I think I would have appreciated reading when I was in high school. ( )