Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Young Adult Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4059-0
311 pp.
Suitable for ages 14+

Readers Annotation: Quincie Morris suddenly has to tackle many issues: the reopening of her family restaurant, the death of a close friend, the boy she loves, and the werewolves and vampires that are wreaking havoc in her town.

Plot Summary: Quincie Morris is independent and an orphan. She lives in Austin, a town of werewolves and vampires where nothing looks like it seems, with her uncle. She has a crush on Kieren, her hybrid-werewolf first love that is threatening to leave her for the wolfpack. She and her uncle are planning on re-opening the family restaurant with a vampire-theme, dangerous for a city full of them. As if things weren't hectic enough, the chef tragically dies in what looks like a vampire murder. Suspicions are thrown around regarding the chef's death. Vampires? Werewolves? Kieren? A new chef enters the picture, Bradley, but while Quincie tries to transform him into character before opening night, there is something about this new chef that Quincie can't put her finger on. As human and un-human forces collide, Quincie finds herself in a love triangle that has high stakes and blurred lines between who is prey and who is predator.

Critical Evaluation: The story is told from the point of view of Quincie. It is an easy read for the majority of the book as the chapters are short, the narration simple, and the dialogue is fresh and crisp. The main characters are all well-developed, but each of them has a touch of mystery to them that does the book well since it evolves into an erotic mystery thriller. However, minor characters come and go, and though they are not developed and too numerous to count, they all serve very important parts of the plot. This complicates the reading later on as you have to keep to scroll back and keep track of these minor characters. The plot oozes sex in a subtle way: the clothes, the descriptions, and their mannerisms all give the reader clues what's in the back of each character's mind while bite marks, rubbing, and detailed kissing point the obvious. This is combined with touches of comedy and of course, gore, which very well suits a novel revolving around vampires and werewolves and makes this book and fun, amusing, and for the most part, easy read.

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times best-selling author of fiction for children and young adults. Interestingly, her children books revolve around modern-day Indians. This makes sense since she is from the Muscogee Creek Nation. Her young adult books, however, revolve around gothic fantasies/horror.

She is regarded as an expert of children's literature and even hosts a website for Children's Literature Resources. She is also a faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, as she teaches the writing for children and teen program there. She currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Booktalking Ideas:
1) Vampires
2) Werewolves
3) Teeth
4) Sexual innuendo
5) Gore and death

Challenge Issues: There are big bits of gore, death, and sexual innuendo present throughout the book.

A librarian should state that the ALA mission is "to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all," which is embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. Librarians must act as an extension, making sure that they educate the general public, and themselves, about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

Why Included: This was an assigned book for my LIBR 265 class. I'm glad I read it though; it was fun and amusing.