Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (1993) is the third book in the Dangerous Angels

Dangerous Angels

Dangerous Angels is a young adult fiction series by Francesca Lia Block. It is a compilation of five novels: Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop...

 series by Francesca Lia Block

Francesca Lia Block

Francesca Lia Block is the author of adult and young adult fiction, short stories, screenplays and poetry, most famously the Weetzie Bat series. Block wrote her first book, Weetzie Bat, while a student at UC Berkeley; it was published in 1989 by Harper Collins. She is known for her use of imagery,...

. It focuses on Cherokee, the daughter of Weetzie Bat, and her friends as they start a band, find success, and deal with the corruption of their spirits.

Plot summary

While the grown-ups are away making a movie, teenager Cherokee is left to cheer up her sort-of sister Witch Baby, who is deeply depressed. Cherokee makes her a pair of wings out of wire and feathers, and it cheers Witch Baby up due to an unexplained magical power. The two girls decided to start a band and enlist their two male friends, Raphael and Angel Juan.

As their band becomes successful, the other members acquire magical items to wear. Raphael begins to wear goat pants, Angel Juan gets horns, and Cherokee gets hoof-like boots. However, these items begin to lead them down a path of drugs, sex, and jealousy and things begin to unravel. In the end, Cherokee, disturbed by the changes in her friends, makes off with the magical costumes, causing her friends to re-examine their choices and find their way back to their normal selves.