How To by Francesca Block (most popular novels of all time TXT) 📕

about to turn forty-five

you are drinking too much

you are so beautiful it makes our solar plexuses ache

all of us who click on your pictures obsessively

i have found you!

at last

i missed you

forty-five thoughts for my daughter and my virtual daughters

i always believed if i had blond hair, pixie face,

big breasts

everything would be all right

not realizing that culturally idolized beauty

is not only foolproof but potentially dangerous

if you believe in your own unconventional beauty

when you are young

you will accomplish twice as much and suffer half so

turn off lightbulbs and light a candle

walk don’t drive

plant a tree

wear sunscreen

dancing is an antidepressant

kindness is the new status symbol

every day please try to eat something green

and something orange

that grow out of the ground

tell me how mad you are

that your father and i parted

i will always listen

though i can’t ever take away the pain

expectations are for what you yourself create

they rarely work when applied to others

turn off the television

tv is a depressant

yoga is an antidepressant

don’t feel guilty about wanting pretty things

they would not be so alluring

if you weren’t supposed to want them

just don’t value them over compassion

use your words even when you are a grown-up

and people no longer think it is entirely acceptable

when you say, that hurt my feelings

if you can digest chocolate eat it sometimes

same goes for ice cream

(i don’t really need to tell you those things do i?)

do your homework because it is part of the game but

don’t spend too much time worrying about grades

fall in love with someone kind who loves your body and your mind

if you have a dream that won’t let you go, that

tickles your solar plexus, heed it

turn dark feelings into paintings or poetry

or dancing

music is a kind of food

if you are sad talk to a happy woman who loves you

it will always help

move your body when you are sad or angry

avoid the following:

genetically modified ingredients

parabens

sodium lauryl sulfate

mercury in certain fish

neurotic thoughts about food

(is that a contradiction?)

love your curls though they tangle

your pale skin though it can burn in the sun

your nose though it is broader than some

your sturdy legs and feet

forget barbie she does not possess imagination

remember you are a botticelli angel

the planet we live on is perfection

love her like a goddess

love yourself as her daughter

there is a planet full of different kinds of beauty

the idea that only one type of woman is beautiful

is blasphemy

of everything i brought to the world in these

forty-five years

you and your brother are by far the most astounding

because of this i will always love your father

matter never vanishes, only changes

remember that when someone you love dies

your round head on my breast when you were born

is the memory

i will keep with me when i leave this body

when i am gone i will still be near you

this is how i know: when you were born

it was not a meeting

but a reunion

how to (un)cage a girl

longer hair bigger breasts smoother skin

flatter stomach whiter teeth smaller nose

if you worry enough you won’t have time

or energy to see

what really is

what could i have learned

if i didn’t live here in this cell?

where could i have flown?

how would i have grown?

if i forgave this shell?

oh, my body

let me cradle you like my girl’s

her long limbs spilling over

or folding up like silk

her gold-tinged curls

ringleting my fingers

her eyes the blue of sorrow

and hyacinth

oh, my body

when you are at peace

rocked here to sleep

as if by a mother

as if by a lover

who sees your flushed skin

the grace that you’re in

the gleam of your hair

the green of your stare

then this soul can fly off

to understand pyramids and time

history

electricity

technology

symbology

that all of us are one

that all of us are love

About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, winner of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award, is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling books, including WEETZIE BAT, DANGEROUS ANGELS: The Weetzie Bat Books, PSYCHE IN A DRESS, and BLOOD ROSES. Her work is published around the world. You can visit her online at www.francescaliablock.com.

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ALSO BY FRANCESCA LIA BLOCK

weetzie bat

missing angel juan

girl goddess #9: nine stories

the hanged man

dangerous angels: the weetzie bat books

i was a teenage fairy

violet & claire

the rose and the beast

echo

guarding the moon

wasteland

goat girls: two weetzie bat books

beautiful boys: two weetzie bat books

necklace of kisses

psyche in a dress

blood roses

Credits

Jacket photo © 2007 Moira Madden

Photo by Molly Bliss, with assistance by Jen Reeves

Jacket design by Carla Weise

Copyright

HOW TO (UN)CAGE A GIRL. Copyright © 2008 by Francesca Lia Block. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader August 2008 ISBN 978-0-06-170933-3

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