Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

 Cynthia Leitich Smith, Tantalize, Candlewick Press, Cambridge, MA, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7636-2791-1

Plot Summary
In the wake of her parents' death, orphan Quincie has inherited the family's Italian restaurant and been left in the the care of her distracted, Jimmy Buffet-like uncle Davidson. Looking to inject a little excitement into the place, she and her uncle decide to adopt a vampire theme to the Austin restaurant. That seems like plenty for one high school senior to tackle, but there's more--Quincie's first love, a werewolf hybrid, is about to leave to embark on an initiation ritual. Then the restaurant's long-time cook, Vaggio, is murdered. Quincie hires Henry Johnson as the head chef. Will she be able to transform him into a red-hot chef before opening night? What about her first love, Kieran? What if the new chef tries to seduce her with his vampish ways? Rumors of attacks by werewolves circle after the death of Vaggio. Quincie doubts that it could Kieran, but clearly some terrible force is out there threatening the community. Who killed Vaggio, and who is next on the list?

Critical Evaluation
While I had to work hard to keep up with all of the plot lines criss-crossing this novel, I took great pleasure in reading Leitich-Smith’s imaginative depiction of a setting in Tantalize. In this novel, Austin, TX is a one-off version of itself, a place in which werewolf moms try to keep their identities on the down-low by driving mini-vans about town. In spite of the werewolves and vampires that populate the city, though, it’s still Austin, and the the novel features narrator Quincie strutting about town in red cowboy boots,  the  enormous bat colony hanging underneath the Congress Street bridge, and a mixed population boasting strong Mexican influences. Leitich-Smith is also playful with describing the family restaurant evoking the sounds and smells and motions of a busy restaurant that is remaking itself into a vampire-themed Italian restaurant.

Reader’s Annotation
Fans of Twilight might want to check this one out to see how Quincie compares to Bella and how Austin, TX stacks up to Forks, WA as a vampire hang-out spot.

Information about the Author
According to the author’s website, “She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Writers' League of Texas, and Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. She graduated with degrees in news/editorial and public relations from the White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, Lawrence in 1990 and from The University of Michigan Law School in 1994. She also studied abroad in Paris, France during the summer of 1991 via a program sponsored by Tulane Law School and the University of Paris IV.

Cynthia has worked as a popcorn popper and cashier in a movie theater, a waitress (in a Mexican chain restaurant, and at a country club restaurant and pool), an attendant at a gas station, a receptionist at a law firm, a telephone operator at a bank, a law clerk (for a legal aid, for a small firm, for a government agency, and for a federal appeals judge), and an English tutor for students of migrant farm families. She has also worked as a reporter (for small-town and big city newspapers) and in public relations (for a non-profit agency, for a greeting card company, and for an oil company). In addition, Cynthia has taught legal writing and writing for children and young adults.

Cynthia was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her previous states of residence are: Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Oklahoma. She is a tribal member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Today, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her four cats and her husband, award-winning children's book author Greg Leitich Smith.”

Genre
Gothic Fantasy

Curriculum Ties
N/A

Booktalking Ideas
Read the passage in which Vaggio’s body is discovered. In addition to everything else, this novel is a whodunit with the lingering questions--who was the perpetrator and when  will he (or she?) strike next?

Reading Level/ Interest Age
14+

Challenge Issues
There could be individuals who would take issue with the paranormal elements and sexual references in Tantalize. If the book were challenged, I would turn to ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Why Included?
This was a novel assigned in my LIBR 265 course, and I’m glad to have now read another Gothic Fantasy novel in addition to Twilight. Vampires are hot right now, and I want to be in on the conversation! 

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese, First Second, 2006, ISBN 978-1-59643-152-2

Plot Summary
In Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese, three story threads are woven together--Jin Wang's trials of trying to fit in as a Chinese kid in an all-white high school, the disastrous visit of Chin-Kee, Danny's worst nightmare and the living embodiment of every Asian stereotype, and the fable of Monkey King, the most powerful monkey on earth who rejects his identity as a monkey because he wants to be a god. Initially there's a tantalizing dissonance, and the reader wonders how these stories connect. Yang masterfully weaves all three narratives together to craft an outsider narrative that looks at the costs of the American Dream for those on the margins. But don't worry--it's not just the heavy-duty identify stuff--it's also a fun ride with farting, fighting, and a little bit of romance.

Critical Evaluation
What feels particularly novel about American Born Chinese is Yang’s  weaving together of three seemingly disconnected narratives into one tale that touches on racism, prejudice and self-acceptance. The dissonance of some of the stories (this reader initially wondered, “How is it that blond-haired, blue-eyed Danny has the Chinese cousin, Chin-kee?”) adds some healthy confusion. At moments, this reader wanted to ask Yang, “Wait, what are you doing and where are you taking me?” By the end of the graphic novel, I felt that Yang was, in fact, a trusted guide who knew where he was going the entire time. All of the narratives build toward an encounter with prejudice and a transformation that culminates in self-acceptance. Like the monkey who wants to be something he is not (a god), Jin, too, must learn to accept himself amidst the trials of being one of the only Asian kids at his school.

Reader's Annotation
Ever felt like you were the only outsider in a sea of people who all belong together? That’s how Jin feels when his family moves from San Francisco’s Chinatown to an all-white community.

Information about the Author
On his website, the author writes, “Hi! I’m Gene Luen Yang. Thanks for visiting my site! I began publishing comic books under the name Humble Comics in 1996. In 1997, I got the Xeric Grant for Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks. (If you’re interested in creating comics yourself, check out the Xeric Foundation. They’re a great organization!) Since then I’ve written and drawn a number of stories in comics. American Born Chinese, released by First Second Books in 2006, became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award. It also won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album – New. The Eternal Smile, a collaborative project I did with Derek Kirk Kim in 2009, won an Eisner as well. And I just received word that my 2010 graphic novella Prime Baby has been nominated for an Eisner! Now, Thien Pham and I look forward to the release of our new graphic novel Level Up in June 2011. In addition to cartooning, I teach computer science at a Catholic high school in California.”

Genre
Graphic Novel

Curriculum Ties
This would be a terrific work to include for any study of immigration to the US.

Booktalking Ideas
Since this is a graphic novel with dynamic visuals, I think that introducing each of the three main characters by showing comic panels on an overhead projector would be a good idea.

Reading Level/ Interest Age
Ages 14+

Challenge Issues
N/A

Why Included
I thought that a graphic novel that looked at questions of immigration and assimilation from a Chinese-American perspective sounded compelling. I was also drawn to American Born Chinese being both a National Book Award finalist and Printz award winner--what clinched it for me is that Gene Yang is a Bay Area author who teaches at the high school where I am an intern!

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff, ISBN 1-56512-420-0, Algonquin Publishers, 2004. 


Plot Summary
The novel opens with a housewarming party, and Jacob Green’s father, Abram, is ready to trot out his wife and children to their neighbors and friends as the perfect 1970s suburban, orthodox Jewish family: talented, intelligent, and devout. Trouble is, that’s not the case, and the rest of the family doesn't appreciate the charade. Sensitive Jacob tries to make peace within the family, but inside he admires his older brother Asher's rebellion. (His brother was recently kicked out of Hebrew school for drawing explicit pictures of the rabbi on the board.) The rigid (and ridiculous) father Abram has an enormous ego which blinds him to his family’s resentment of him. Of his son Jacob, he demands academic excellence and exhorts him to write flawless thank-you notes for all of his boring bar mitzfah gifts. Clueless as to his son’s struggles, Abram digs deeper with his demands, distancing himself further and further from Jacob. Jacob tries to please his father but always makes some kind of mistake with the thank you notes leading him to drift off into his “unthinkable thoughts” about the sexy live-in babysitter and his dreams of rebellion. Meanwhile, his mother has started attending college at the age of thirty-six and is starting to imagine a life for herself free of her controlling husband’s impulses, leaving the children to cope with their overbearing father. This novel, at turns both with witty and heartbreaking, provides a window onto father-son relationships and an orthodox Jewish family in the midst of the turbulent 1970s. 



Critical Evaluation
Jacob is the narrator of this novel, and the peek inside this fourteen year old’s mind is alternately hilarious and heart-breaking. We get to hear all of his “unthinkable thoughts” which are particularly amusing when they come in the form of his bar mitzfah thank-you notes. The thank you notes always begin with Jacob attempting to do the right thing and striking a formal tone for each of his dull gifts then moving into complete fantasy land as he digresses into what he is actually thinking about. Regardless of how x-rated or embarrassing the aborted effort is, he always signs it, “Love, Jacob.” Jacob’s genuine attempts to please his father juxtaposed against his father’s complete deafness to any needs other than his own can be wrenching but will likely ring true for any person, young or old, who remembers being ignored by a self-involved parent.

Reader’s Annotation
Ever wanted to let the world know what you’re really thinking about? Jacob Green opens up to what’s really on his mind as he struggles to get his bar mitzfah thank you cards written.

Information about the Author
On his website, Joshua Braff writes, “A little bio if you will. In first person. I grew up in South Orange, New Jersey, and went to Columbia High School. I graduated from NYU in ’91 with a BS in Education. In 1995 I entered St. Mary’s College of California. There I received an MFA in creative writing/fiction. I published three short stories during this time in national literary journals before I wrote a first novel called Digging Suburbia. I was never able to sell it but acquired my first literary agent with the book. I wrote The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green after my son turned 6 months old. The book would have three publishing offers right after I finished it two years later. I went with Algonquin Books because of their reputation as a great press and I’ve never been disappointed. I started writing Peep Show after hearing a story about a man who was an orthodox Jew, living in Long Island, who commuted to Times Square to run peep houses. The book turned out to be a complex ride about familial relationships and the tangles that disenchantment and history and self-absorption can cause. I think it’s a pretty special book. I live in Oakland California with my wife of fifteen years and my two children, Henry and Ella. I love the game of baseball and played until recently when I decided sliding hard into bases was going to really start hurting. So I play softball now but slid so hard into third base last August that I may have torn my right meniscus. Golf anyone? I also love acrylic/oil painting in the Color Field genre. I’m most inspired by the painters, Barnett Newman, Dan Christensen, Kenneth Noland and Mark Rothko. I’m currently working on my third novel. No hints yet.”

Genre
Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties
N/A

Booktalking Ideas
Read aloud one of Jacob’s bar mitzfah thank you notes.

Reading Level/ Interest Age
16+

Challenge Issues
The book could be challenged because of its references to sex. If the book were challenged, I would turn to ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Why Included?
I liked the idea of including a coming-of-age story from a boy’s perspective with a slight cultural twist. 

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

 Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Harper Collins, 2002, ISBN 0-380-97778-8

Plot Summary
This is a classic journey story in which our hero, young Coraline, must rescue herself and others from danger against evil forces. The story begins when Coraline's family moves into a new apartment (the author is British, so it's a "flat"). It is a rainy day, and Coraline is not allowed to go outside and play. Her father recommends that she inspect their new abode: why doesn't she count the numbers of doors and windows?  She counts the doors and finds one that is locked. Curious, she asks her mother about it, and her mother replies that it goes nowhere and hands Coraline the key. When Coraline turns the key to the locked door and enters, the adventure begins. Crossing the threshold, Coraline enters a parallel universe which at first seems like paradise. In this "other world" she has parents much like her own, but these ones aren't distracted like her real parents. These ones pay attention to her and make roasted chicken for dinner, instead of the usual carry-out, microwave-later fare that her actual parents serve.  But evil lurks under the surface, and the new mother and father on the other side want her to stay and be their little daughter. Coraline's real parents didn't always pay the closest attention to her, but they are hers and hers alone--shouldn't she try and get back to them? Soon Coraline learns that other children are locked up in this creepy place, and she is their only hope at salvation. Assisted by a talking cat, she embarks on a journey to rescue the children and get back to her real parents. Doing so demands that Coraline face decapitated rats and a vengeful, bony hand that chases her. When she returns home to her real parents, she has a whole new appreciation for them and her odd neighbors including the batty old man, Mr. Bobo, who trains his mouse circus.

Critical Evaluation
The tone of Coraline shifts seamlessly between the creepiness of the “other world” with its Other Mother with button eyes and the silliness of the “real world” in which Coraline’s neighbors, the old spinsters, can never remember  her actual name and instead call her “Caroline.” The plucky Coraline has the courage to face the horrors of the other world, and, when she returns, she is able to forgive the adults in her life their many foibles.  The novel has a fairy tale like aspect in which a locked door is a portal to another universe, one in which evil forces lurk. What is delightful about Coraline is that our young hero is not rescued by a handsome prince but instead has the  wherewithal to battle these otherworldly demons herself with, of course, the aid of a talking cat. This makes  Coraline a creepy, funny, girl-power novel, one that is sure to entertain many children, teens and adults alike.

Reader’s Annotation
Ever wanted to slip through a mysterious door and escape the hum-drum of everyday life? That’s what Coraline does, but behind that door, evil forces lurk.

Information about the Author
According to the author’s website “Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in modern comics, as well as writing books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.    

His New York Times bestselling 2001 novel for adults, American Gods, was awarded the Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, SFX, and Locus awards, was nominated for many other awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the Minnesota Book Award, and appeared on many best-of-year lists...Born and raised in England, Neil Gaiman now lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has somehow reached his forties and still tends to need a haircut.”   

Genre
Children’s Gothic Horror

Curriculum Ties 
 Students studying fairy tales might read Coraline along with Brothers Grimm to get ideas for writing their own modern day fairy tales.

Booktalking Ideas
Read aloud the passage in which Coraline is given the key to the door. This is where the adventure begins.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 8+

Challenge Issues
N/A

Why Included?
I had heard of the author Neil Gaiman but hadn’t read anything by him and thought that Coraline might a good place to start. The blend of horror/ fantasy/ humor has a little bit for every kind of reader from children to teens to adults.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell, Scholastic Press, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-0-439-90348-6

Plot Summary
Evie's step-father, Joe, has returned home to Queens after serving in WWII, and, with his return, normal life begins to resume for Evie and her mother. In the time that Joe was gone, Evie and her mother had to live with Joe’s grouchy mother who finds endless fault with her son’s glamorous wife. But somebody else also shows up--good-looking Peter Coleridge who served with Joe's company in the war. Suddenly Evie's step-father becomes edgy itching to leave Queens on a long vacation to Florida. Initially, when they arrive, Florida seems to be a garden of Eden with sunshine, glamorous new friends, space from the sour mother-in-law, and promises of wealth for Joe. Snakes in the garden emerge as the hurricane season approaches: Peter follows them to Florida, Evie begins to fall for him in spite of Joe’s warnings, and the glamorous new friends are not always made welcome in the sunshine state.

Critical Evaluation
The joys of reading this novel include the 1940s diction and the ease with which one enters into the post-WWII period. From the very first page, the reader is transported into another time period in which a girl worthy of pity is called, "Pussycat", a good looking babe is called a "Dish" and teen girls earnestly read books the likes of Every Young Girl's Guide to Popularity. Blundell sneaks in references to historical events such as Florida's 1947 hurricane and WWII looting, and she does it so smoothly that the reader blinks, surprised that she has learned something new. The author also keeps the reader on her toes by making the narrator a very likeable, but still unreliable narrator--Evie is charming, naive and impressionable, and the reader is never entirely sure whether to trust her version of the story. The unease about what has actually transpired keeps the pages turning in this rich, multi-layered work of historical fiction.

Reader’s Annotation

Love suspense, mystery, and romance? Want to be swept away to a different time and place where women wear tightly fitting dresses and swoon over Sinatra songs and men wear suits and drink scotch?

Information about the Author

According to the author’s website, “Judy Blundell has written books for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers under several pseudonyms. Her novel, Premonitions, was an ALA Reluctant Readers Best Picks and was chosen by the New York Public Library as a 2004 Best Books for the Teen Age. Among her forthcoming projects is Book #4 in the New York Times bestselling series, The 39 Clues. Judy Blundell lives in Katonah, New York, with her husband and daughter.

2008 National Book Award winner for her YA novel What I Saw and How I Lied, Judy Blundell is well known to Star Wars fans by her pseudonym, Jude Watson.

What could be more fun than writing in your journal? Well, how about writing Queen Amidala's journal for her? Jude Watson is currently the most celebrated author in the prequel-era of the Star Wars phenomenon. She's no stranger to science fiction — her own series, entitled Danger.com, is a mystery series based on the Internet. Watson became involved with LucasBooks when an editor she had worked with in the past selected her to write Captive to Evil by Princess Leia Organa (Star Wars Journal). Since then Watson has penned the Star Wars Jedi Apprentice series as well as journals for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul.”

Genre

Historical Fiction/ Mystery

Curriculum Ties

History--WWII & its aftermath

Booktalking Ideas

Read a description of the romance and glamorous life that seventeen year old Evie dreams of and catches glimpses of in Florida. Note that it all goes terribly wrong because of a very big lie.  

Reading Level/ Interest Age

14+

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why Included?

This novel is a National Book Award winner that takes place in the years after WWII, a time period that fascinates many teenagers. I thought that it would have broad appeal and wanted to read it myself!

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford, Scholastic Press, New York, 2009, ISBN 978-0-545-10708-2

Plot Summary
The summer before her senior year, Beatrice moves to Baltimore. On the first day of school, she hopes to make a new friend or two with some regular kids. Instead of making "normal" friends she ends up befriending her private school's social outcast, Jonah aka Ghost Boy. As the novel progresses, Bea learns more about Jonah's story and she begins to understand what makes him a lost soul. Their relationship develops into something that's not quite romance but much deeper than everyday friendship. Beatrice herself is not exactly a regular kid--she's been known to dress up as the beheaded John the Baptist and listens to late night radio on the AM dial with a bunch of fifty-something weirdos. As their friendship progresses, Beatrice tries to figure out whether she can rescue Jonah from his solitude. While this is going on, she's trying to have a sort-of-normal high school existence while also witnessing her parents' disintegrating marriage and her mother's increasingly bizarre behavior.

Critical Evaluation
I find it rare to read a novel with plot elements or characters that actually surprise me. When I do find a novel that surprises me, I want to savor it, and How to Say Goodbye in Robot is one such novel. Initially, the character of Jonah is a recognizable teen outcast--we’ve seen this kind of guy before. But once Beatrice befriends him and learns more about his past, we learn more about why he he tries to make himself invisible, and it is a deeply rooted internal conflict that I had never encountered before in a novel.  I also appreciated that the novel didn’t follow the formula of “Outcast girl meets outcast boy. They fall in love and make each other happy.”  No, Beatrice and Jonah share have a deep friendship, and it doesn’t turn into romance, and it’s still deeply interesting. Part of what makes their friendship unique is that it doesn’t play out amidst the usual high school drama--instead, it’s supported by friendships with oddball older people they’ve never met, but talk and listen to on the AM dial. If you savor stories of people living out authentically quirky lives, How To Say Goodbye in Robot is an excellent read.

Reader’s Annotation
Tired of reading books about perfect teenagers with nauseatingly happy lives? Want to get to know some oddballs who aren't drug addicts?

Information about the Author
On the author’s website, Natalie Standiford writes of her background, “I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. So were both my parents. All my grandparents were from Maryland too. Most of my family still lives in Baltimore. It's that kind of place.  As a little girl, I took ballet lessons and violin lessons and gymnastics. My father had a sailboat and we went sailing a lot. I liked to read and write stories. To my regret I have always been terrible at any kind of art, even coloring. In school my favorite subjects were spelling and reading and French. Later, in high school, I studied Russian and Spanish. I've always liked foreign languages....I worked in the Children's Book department of Random House for three years, moving from editorial assistant to Assistant Editor. It was the perfect apprenticeship for me. But I wanted to be a writer, not an editor, so I quit and became a full-time freelancer. I started out writing easy readers, picture books, and chapter books for younger children, and now I'm writing for teens. I also play bass in an all-YA-author-band called Tiger Beat, with Libba Bray, Dan Ehrenhaft, and Barney Miller. Here we are playing at Books of Wonder in New York City."

Genre
Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties
N/A

Booktalking Ideas
Read aloud Beatrice’s first encounter with Jonah. Why does everyone call him “Ghost Boy”? What’s his story? Why is he so comfortable disappearing? Then briefly tell Natalie Standiford’s story of the genesis of Jonah as a character. (She went to a high school reunion and learned about what had happened to an unusually quiet classmate.)

Reading Level/ Interest Age
Grades 8+

Challenge Issues
N/A

Why Included?
I read this book initially because it sounded interesting and was an ALA award winner. Now that I’ve read it, I think it’s a terrific one to add to any collection because it addresses “weird” or outcast kids, friendship, and loss--and it’s terrifically funny.