Tantalize

Gr 9 Up—Readers of Smith's novel Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) will be excited to see the story of the secondary character fully revealed in this graphic-novel spin-off. While Quincie Morris struggles to reopen her family's restaurant in the wake of a murder, she pushes her best friend, Kieren, away. To protect her, he devotes himself to solving the mystery of the murder and finds himself embroiled in a vampire plot. As a hybrid werewolf, Kieren doesn't fear the paranormal, but the investigation leads him not only to the guilty parties, but also to truths about his werewolf ancestors that are hard to reconcile. While the story stands on its own, teens will appreciate it far more if they have read Tantalize. The artwork, which focuses mainly on the faces of the characters, features large lips, resulting in some distorted expressions in some scenes. However, both the art and the text come together in some touching moments, particularly between Kieren and his younger sister. Like Tantalize, this parallel point of view leaves readers wanting to know more about what transpires in Kieren's and Quincie's futures.—Alana Joli Abbott, formerly at James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, CT