Pink Smog

Block, F. L. (2012). Pink smog: Becoming Weetzie. New York: HarperTeen

Thirteen-year-old Weetzie (Louisa) Bat loves her hometown of L.A. and her dad.  Her alcoholic ex-starlet mother and substance abusing ex-movie making father fight a lot.  One night, Weetzie's dad leaves Weetzie and her mother without a goodbye.  Weetzie is already having to navigate the awkwardness mean girls of 7th grade and then she's basically left alone.  Eventually she forms a tight bond with two other outcasts- Lily Chin and Bobby Castillo.  Weezie also crushes hard on a possible guardian angel/maybe imaginary neighbor, Winter Wiggins.  Winter comes to Weetzie's rescue more than a few times, because Charlie (Weetzie's father) has asked him to look after her.  In the end, Lily moves away, Bobby goes looking for his father, and Winter's scary family leaves.  Weetzie seems to grow into her own confident and independent person throughout the course of the book.

A kind of part fantasy part real coming of age story of a 7th grade girl.  This book is the prequel to Weetzie Bat, but I feel it probably makes more sense if it's read after reading the Weetzie Bat books.    Pink Smog seems to have a lot to read between the lines and leaves a lot for the reader to wonder about.  This book's characters could definitely resonate with some middle school aged young adults, and I suspect the Weetzie Bat series' characters resonate with the older ages of young adult literature.  Here is a book trailer for Pink Smog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4hDKjoXsbM