Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys

Weetzie Bat #3

by Francesca Lia Block

Once there was a slink-chunk,
slam-dunk band called The Goat Guys Cherokee Bat danced and sang. Witch Baby, Cherokee's almost-sister, pounded the beat on her drums. Raphael played the guitar, and Angel Juan kept the rhythm on his bass. They made music that sparkled like fireworks, and audiences loved them. But with success came power, and power was a dangerous thing. Cherokee and The Goat Guys were swept up in it-and soon it was threatening to destroy them. Until Cherokee realized that it was up to her to save them all . . .

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Teen, Romance, LGBT

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.

Reviews

[Rachel Fellows · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Weetzie Bat series is just so California. This volume kicks the fairy tale up a notch in its exploration of coming of age and sexuality, all centered around the mystical magic Cherokee and her sister, Witch Baby, along with their friends Raphael and Angel Juan, conjure up to create a whirlwind rock band on the L.A. scene: The Goat Guys.

I think it's probably best to look at this volume as a fable or a fairy tale.

This book was written in the 90s, before knowledge of cultural appropriation was a relatively well known concept, so it helps to forgive Block for using a nebulous "Native American" mysticism to move the story along. Still, it is incredibly cringe-worthy to see some of the stereotypical treatment of POC and to have the very, VERY (almost translucent) white Cherokee Bat sleep in a tepee, wear head dresses, and moccasins like a blonde "Indian Princess." But I think, in the end, that imagery is sort of a leftover from the hippie-dippie L.A. scene that Block loves to evoke.

[Erika Worley · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I like Weetzie Bat and Witch Baby more, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is an important part of the series, and has some of the best imagery. Its themes around purity and awakening and fame and love are all potent. While Weetzie Bat is about a woman who is always herself no matter what and Witch Baby is about a girl who will never exactly fit in anyway, Cherokee Bat gives a new perspective, as the central character is someone who has always been beautiful, cheerful, and loved. Her desire for others to be happy the way she is ends up hurting in ways she is too young to understand. It is about a teenager who does not comprehend sacrifice.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are threads in here that are interesting - especially Cherokee’s growing awareness of how her body is viewed and sexualized by others. But it’s tough to read this kind of simplistic, white washed take on Native American spirituality and culture in 2018.

[kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok have to dock a few points because it is borderline culturally appropriative BUT at its core it's about what happens when the things that help you transform yourself become the same things that haunt you because you have invested them with too much power

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my edition of Dangerous Angels, this book is longer than the first two in the series, but it somehow feels much shorter. The chapters are longer, and so there are less of them, and maybe this contributes, or maybe it's that this book feels much more contained to a very specific sequence of events rather than freewheeling indiscriminately through time. But I think it might more likely be the fact that something just feels like it's missing. The specific story Block concocts here feels like it could do with a bit more fleshing out to make it really sparkle.

I loved that this revolved around Cherokee, Witch Baby, and their friends deciding to start a band (which reminded me of and made me more eager to reread another Block book, the oft-forgotten Ecstasia). That's always a fun concept, and it was made even more intriguing by the idea of the gifts each band member gradually receives (wings made with real bird feathers for Witch Baby, goat-like haunches for Raphael, goat horns for Angel Juan, and heavy black hooves for Cherokee). These gifts are more sinister than they appear on the surface, seemingly imbued with a strange black magic that propels the band's success but strains their relationships and compels them toward drugs, alcohol, and violence. I thought this idea was really cool, but I think Block wastes too many pages on the giving of these gifts, leaving her with very little space to explore their more nefarious effects. The worst of their influence is seemingly introduced and resolved in a chapter or two, which lessens the threat significantly and, I feel, lets Cherokee and Witch Baby off too easy for their oblivious greediness in acquiring them.

As Cherokee gathers materials for her gifts, Block seems to be weaving a lesson into the narrative, that you can't keep taking things from the earth, even when you ask for them nicely, without expecting some consequences. This is an important and relevant message (maybe even more so now than when she wrote the book), but it is too often complicated by Block's penchant for Native American appropriation. Unfortunately, this is something that permeates the whole series, and I imagine it's probably at its worst here. Each chapter opens with a Native American song/poem, which only reads as tone-deaf and cringe-worthy today. The one Indigenous character, Coyote, is there largely to support the white protagonist, to issue vague, ominous warnings each time she comes back asking for his help with another gift but to rescue her anyway when she ignores him. It also gave me pause how many references there are to the "shack" he lives in, while the Bat homestead is always described in rich, opulent, fairytale-esque words.

The story here is interesting and engaging, but it's hard to sit back and enjoy it without reservation through a lens more than 30 years removed from the one through which Block wrote this. Cherokee's perspective is certainly a less irritating and bratty one than Witch Baby's in the previous book, but as likable as she can be, it's hard to erase from your mind the image of a skinny ghost-pale white girl sleeping in a teepee, running around in headdresses and moccasins, and taking advantage of her parents' Native American friend and his culture.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Punk rock.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is the weakest of the Weetzie Bat books so far. As I was reading I suddenly remembered that I started this in 2011 and NEVER FINISHED IT! This is one of those illustrious books I've started and never marked as started or unfinished. Now I remember why I ditched the Weetzie Bat series. I don't like Cherokee Bat. She feels like a white sugar-plumb princess who is culturally appropriating and misusing others' cultures for her own personal gain and I felt that way before I even knew what cultural appropriation was in 2011 as a kid. I didn't hate this book because I appreciate what it has to say about parental abandonment, neglect, and how teens can choose paths of alcohol or drug abuse as a way of coping. Witch Baby, in particular, starts the book by burying herself alive in mud for months. I don't know how I feel about all of the commentary and inclusion of Coyote in this book. It gave me the ick before and I excused it because of the way Block was approaching the world in the 1980s, but this was just a complete disrespect to Indigenous people groups and it left a bad taste in my mouth. My biggest complaint though is I really, really, really, don't like Cherokee Bat. Weetzie Bat is full of issues for sure, but she is a more engaging, ethereal, and transcendental character. I can buy her flitty nature and out of the blue decision making that leads to destruction. Cherokee Bat has those same traits, but none of the traits of Dirk, Duck, or My Secret Agent Lover Man. She is so obsessed with Raphael and being in a band (The Goat Guys) that she has no inner reflection and compassion for others outside of Witch Baby, Raphael, and eventually Angel Juan. She is narcissistic, vapid, and insipid I can't believe this is the daughter of some of the most whacky, zany, and over-the-top characters in YA literature. This is a series step down in the Weetzie Bat series, especially after the complexity of Witch Baby's coming-of-age story in the previous novella. SMH. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED. I will be continuing the series because I will finish the Weetzie Bat books for the first time ever, but now I know the reason I left the series behind was Cherokee motherfucking Bat.

[Rachael Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

here are some books that I find it comforting to return to and the Weetzie Bat series by Francesca Lia Block is one of them. These books are thirty years old and it shows. Some of the stuff that felt really pertinent and multi-cultural in the 90's feels a little icky now but it is the familiarity of the story and the characters that keeps me coming back.

This third book in the series is probably my least favorite now, though it previously hung out in the middle for me.

Weetzie and all of the other adults have left Cherokee, Witchbaby, and Raphael in the care of their close family friend, Coyote, while they shoot a picture out of the country. Coyote spends most of his time at his hilltop home where he prays and does ceremonies for the damaged earth. Witchbaby is depressed and won't leave her shed where she wallows in the mud all day so Cherokee and Raphael plan a party for her and who should show up but her long lost, previously deported, love: Angel Juan. Now that the group is back together, they start a bad.

But each of the band members has something that is holding them back and again and again Cherokee goes to Coyote for help. Coyote helps her gather materials for special, magical gifts but with each gift his warnings seem to grow more dire. Cherokee is blind to it. She just wants her friends to be happy and for their band to be great. Soon, though, the magical gifts begin to take their tole.

This whole book is kind of a fairy tale. Cherokee keeps going back and asking for more in a way that feels very patterned. Honestly, this time around it kind of reminded me of the Giving Tree, which might sound ridiculous but it really did have the same feel.

All-in-all, this feels like the bottom of the series to me. It's all up from here. Still giving 4 stars for nostalgia.

[Brooke Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll tumbling into a fairy tale through the shimmering lens of the Weetzie Bat world. This time, the crew of kids are teenagers, and have formed a band and started to go to Bonetown with each other. The adults are away shooting a movie about magic in South America, natch, and their friend Coyote is nearby to help if the kids if needed. And they need it.

I love the Native American influence permeating this plot - each section begins with a song or poem from a different tribe, and the power of the animals, nature, and the spirit world is revered and respected. When you try to use that power for only yourself, that's when things get twisted.

The first book in the series will always be my favorite, but this one may have spoken to me the loudest the first time I read it as a tween. By then, I was learning guitar and dreamed of being in a band. I wanted to be grunge so badly, but my hair was just too pretty. Cherokee Bat shows there are so many paths to being cool by simply being yourself.

"Laurel Canyon had the ruins of Houdini's magic mansion, the country store where rock stars like Jim Morrison probably used to buy their beer, stained-glass Marilyn Monroes shining in the trees, leopard-spotted cars, gardens full of pink poison oleander and the Mediterranean villa on the hill where Joni Mitchell once lived, dreaming about clouds and carousels and guarded by stone lions." p. 8

"When she woke in the morning, she felt as if she had been dancing through her sleep, as if she had been awake in the minds of an audience whose dreams would not let her rest. And she did not want any of it to stop." p. 80-81

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, this book was a trip. I've read the first three books in the series, but this one is the first one to foray into the YA field. The book still held the beautiful prose and magical realism of the previous two, but unlike those, this one explored more adult themes: sex, experimentation with drugs, growing up, growing apart, depression. Those are all themes that I normally love in a book, but for some reason, I felt that these dragged the book down and made it murky. Maybe when I do a re-read, I'll feel differently, but it felt like it was too much too fast, like the book was trying too hard to be a YA as opposed to a lighter, fun, easy to read book like the others.

I did like the exploration of the themes I mentioned, but at times it was just too heavy for me. Also, I couldn't really get a feel of what Cherokee was like.

I read this and Witch Baby back-to-back. I think I'm gonna take a break from the series for now.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never actually read this one before! This third book in the Dangerous Angels series was an improvement over Witch Baby, but still lacks that pizazz of Weetzie Bat. Also I think they moved? I may have missed it or she goes back and retroactively mentions it in Angel Juan because this is a different house in the canyon, and it's confirmed in the next book they moved and use the old place as a work space. it's confusing.

This book reads more like a parable, at first with Cherokee as the nymph to Raphael's satyr, then her full transformation to Dionysian maenad by the end as her friends crumble around her. This has a much more familiar narrative arc with the same rich details and Los Angeles glitter. It also has the same mild romanticization of other cultures, primarily Native American and Mexican, that we've seen in the other books.

It's a solid story of Witch Baby and Cherokee coming of age in their wild Los Angeles home and learning hard lessons. Coyote is a terrible babysitter.

[Alex Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Weetzie Bat books, but I’m revisiting them as an adult and seeing the cultural appropriation is uncomfortable. The lyricism of this book is weakened by it and I think the mythological elements really could’ve still happened without it. There’s some great moments of character development and I think Block nails down a marked difference in how the third person functions in Cherokees story vs Weetzie. Overall, this book is still a favorite of mine but I’d have a hard time recommending it to anyone, especially with what YA books look like now.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherokee gives strange gifts to her bandmates, freeing them from their respective anxieties but diving them deep into the party scene. The magical Native American is probably Block's most visible flaw, and it's out in full force here. A pity, as the rest of the book is quite good: I like that much of Cherokee's narrative is turned outward, her characterization defined by her relationships; I like the book's feral, dangerous beauty. But the appropriation is so closely tied to the plot that it's impossible to look past it.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was mildly entertaining. Definitely not Francesca’s best work.

I’m not sure if it was just the Kindle version, but there were SO MANY typos. I mean, it felt like every other page had at least one. It was pretty distracting. Were they called the Goat Guys, or maybe the Coat Guys, or perhaps the Goal Guys... I guess I’ll never really be sure 🤷‍♀️

[V Nichole Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is for adults as it deals with sex and drugs

I love that it is lyrical and a quick fun read. I didn't like it as much as the first two books though. The 1st is still my favorite.

[Laura Mustard · Rating 2 out of 5]

trying to get out of the literal worst reading slump:))))))) these books speak to me.. but they r nuts! this one was worse than the first two. cultural appropriation like every other page. bad. but witch baby is still my queen.

[Sophia Barsuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad these books are finally starting to feel more mature in tone. This is the first book in this series (with the exception of Pink Smog) that doesn’t feel like it’s written for fourth-graders.

[Thomas Voiles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this when I was younger ,I really enjoyed it.

[Tamia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really shows how much the children have grown and experience being teens in LA. The characters have less of a fairytale view and it makes it easier to relate to them.

[Piroska · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was really good for drug prevention.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange, dreamlike, fantastical world Block has created.

[Mia Wadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book serious that im reading is everything.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ✨

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Baby Fleetwood Mac with a magical realism flair. It's cute but Cherokee is a bit dull.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third book in series. This is about a rock band.

[Bitsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys the story arc in the Dangerous Angels series continues. What started with Weetzie Bat and Witch Baby continues in this book with the kids now teenagers and the adults in the household all out of town filming a movie in South America. Naturally Cherokee, Witch Baby, Raphael Chong Jah-Love and soon even Angel Juan, who makes a reappearance, run into trouble.

In a lot of ways I think this book is the most distinctly YA novel in the series. It focuses on the younger generation and problems unique to youth: self image, relationships, finding yourself, growing up.

At the start each of the four characters feels inadequate in one way or another. When they perform on stage they freeze up, when they try and initiate a relationship with someone else they feel rejected or aren't even brave enough to make the attempt, they feel bare, defenseless and powerless in an overbearing world. Coyote, a Native American friend of the family, steps in and offers to help Cherokee create gifts from nature (wings from feathers, goat pants from goat fur) to give each of the four teens outward strength from material things to solve inward problems. Naturally these objects are magical in nature, and naturally they unintentionally result in more problems then they solve.

The rest of the book covers the uncomfortable, dizzying and at times exhilarating descent into a world of late night jams and eventual sex, drugs, smoking, drinking and all night parties. This is where the book had most of its power. To show these things in both the positive (exhilarating, powerful, ego enhancing) and the negative (exhausting, damaging to health both mental and physical, losing control). This is something teens can see and relate to from a source they will listen to as well.

By the end of the book the teens must learn to pull their strength from inside themselves instead of their material trappings and learn how to help each other step back from the edge of self destruction. A powerful and poignant YA novel. Highly recommended.

[Julie Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cherokee, Weetzie's teenage daughter, has formed a band called The Goat Guys. Her almost-sister, Witch Baby, is the drummer, and their boyfriends Raphael and Angel Juan play guitars. Cherokee's the singer and dancer. Their audiences love their energy, but then their parents go away on vacation and leave them to their own devices (with a family friend, Coyote, in the vicinity for adult supervision if needed). To help her sister out of a funk, Cherokee gives Witch Baby some wings to wear while she's drumming, and soon they're all wearing odd items during their sets--goat-hair pants for Raphael, horns for Angel Juan, goat hoof shoes for Cherokee. They become transformed in ways they can't control--ways that frighten everyone--and it falls to Cherokee to pull them back to themselves.

It's murky and unclear why these kids are changing so rapidly in association with the accessories they choose, but it seems like the evolution of their band got away from them and took their identities with it. I'm also not sure why Witch Baby was the only one with a non-goat-like accessory--it didn't really fit in. Despite that, the story was fascinating and touching, with that slight distance from the characters that means you don't always know what's going on in their minds. Many of the images were striking and poignant. The only thing that gave me pause was why Cherokee--who is not Native American--was given all kinds of Indian imagery to appropriate, right down to her name. She's a white blonde girl but she wears "Indian" clothes and moccasins, sleeps in a tipi, does up her hair in braids and whatnot. Seems like a culturally insensitive thing for an author like Block to include, though there's a lot of "wow Indian stuff is cool" appropriation going on in hippie-ish communities so maybe she didn't even know this is pretty egregious.

[scout cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is a book about a group of kids who live in Los Angeles in the late 80's early 90's(?). Their parents are away shooting a film, so they're basically all alone. They get bored, so they start up a band. They call themselves The Goat Guys. Their first gig is at a vampire-themed club, and during the first gig, their lead singer (Raphael) completely froze on stage. After this incident, Cherokee goes to ask a spiritual friend of the family if he had anything that could help Raphael not freeze on stage. The family friend gave Cherokee a pair of goat-fur pants. After this she kept coming back and asking for more things that could help the band. The family friend started getting fed up of Cherokee's constant pressing for the spirits to help their band, so he just ignored the whole band until they learned how to respect the spirits.

I can connect this book to myself because when I was little, I had SERIOUS stage fright. Mostly to singing in front of people. I still don't like my parents listening to me sing, but I'm almost completely fine minus that. I can connect to Raphael, who also got stage fright singing on-stage. It's kind of embarrassing, because you're constantly fretting about what your audience is thinking.

I gave this book five stars because it was very thrilling. It didn't tell you about the band or the gigs, it brought you into their worlds! It gave you a ticket to their shows! The story made sense even in the craziest moments of it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magic, spirits, or music, because this book has it all.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is the third Weetzie Bat book, and I thought it was one of the best of the six. This one is told from Cherokee's point of view (she's Weetzie's daughter) and the plot revolves around a band that she forms with Witch Baby, Raphael, and Angel Juan. Maybe I connected with this one more because my hubby used to be in a band, and music is a big part of our life?

Just like Weetzie Bat and Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is written very lyrically. We really get to know Cherokee Bat in this book, but the peripheral characters are very fuzzy. It's like that in all these books, really. Fuzzy secondary characters. But it's ok. That just serves to shine a brighter spotlight on the main character. And there are six books; eventually the reader gets to know all the characters.

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys is unique in that it offers a moral of sorts. Throughout the story, Cherokee keeps asking Coyote, a Native American family friend, for help making magical gifts for all of her bandmates. However, because her motives aren't pure some of the gifts backfire. I really enjoyed watching the characters' relationships change as they grew and came of age.

While this is the third book in a "series," I feel like it could possibly stand on it's own. Short, enjoyable read.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a sparkling, sharp edged, falling star. It travels you through feelings of awakening sexuality, teenage invincibility, and the shame and redemption of hurting yourself and the people you love.

While the parents go to South America to make a movie, Cherokee, Witch Baby, and Raphael Chong Jah-Love are left their own devices in the canyons of California. While they do have Coyote nearby to help watch over them, they are mostly on their own. Facing an age where everything feels 100x more intense and the answers to your problems are scary and exciting in equal parts.

They make some bad choices. But in the end, most of us have been there. Waking up in the morning feeling forgiveness like sunshine soaking through our skins.

This is the third book in the Weetzie Bat series and really, Weetzie's not in it at all. This series is kind of a family saga and is beautiful in the way the characters dance in and out of the spotlight so that we can see them all clearly.

Again, I'm rereading these books as a part of the Dangerous Angels bind up. <3