The Waters and the Wild

Title: The Waters and the Wild
Author: Francesca Lia Block
ISBN: 0061452440

Review/Summary: Bee has never felt like she belonged. Not once in her 13 years. Rather than play, she gardened. Instead of dressing up, she put on the same hoodie or jacket every day. One night, Bee wakes up to find a girl who looks just like her standing in her bedroom. Bee researches the phenonmenon of doppelgangers and begins to fear for her life. Is the doppelganger an omen of her death? She begins talking to Joseph Hayes, aka "Haze," because of his interest in the paranormal. All of a sudden she can see past his "flaws." Bee forgets about his stutter, his thick glasses and his bad skin. And right after she makes this friend, another one comes her way: Sarah, the girl with a beautiful voice who can't seem to find her place in the modern world. Haze, Bee and Sarah form an immediate, strong bond. They try to fight Bee's doppelganger and their own lack of confidence.

Francesca Lia Block tells this story in her usual fashion: poetically and with sparse dialog. Most of the story comes from Bee's perspective, though with a 3rd-person voice. Unfortunately, none of the characters ever grow to be 3D. They remain very shallow and vague. I had a hard time holding on to them, even when I desperately wanted to. I understood that the three characters were lost, confused and sad; but I never felt any of these things. FLB poured herself into Weetzie Bat (and all the sequels). Those books remain shining in my memory, and I feel like Waters and the Wild just doesn't live up to FLB's potential in any way. I wouldn't call it a bad book, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a great one, either. It's very similar to Alice Hoffman's Green Angel, actually.

Recommended for readers 13 and up--especially fans of Francesca Lia Block and Alice Hoffman.