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Cat Calls (Tantalize) Kindle Edition

by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 271 ratings
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Tiffany's grandmother sees something wild in her future -- but is 16-year-old Tiffany prepared for the powerful shape it will take? When she takes over her grandmother’s fortune telling booth for a day, some really strange things happen… CAT CALLS is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith -- set in the same dark universe as her novels Tantalize, Eternal, and Blessed.
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  1. Print length
    18 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Candlewick Press
  5. Publication date
    December 23, 2010
  6. Reading age
    14 years and up
  7. File size
    223 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004GXB3XA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Candlewick Press (December 23, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 23, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 223 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 18 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 271 ratings

About the author

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Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith

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Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) is a NYTimes bestseller, the 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner, and the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Reading Rockets named her one of 100 Children’s Authors and Illustrators Everyone Should Know. Her titles include HEARTS UNBROKEN, winner of an American Indian Youth Literature Award; the anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED, which was an ALA Notable Book and winner of the Reading of the West Book Award; an Indigenous PETER PAN retelling titled SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, which received six starred reviews; and the YA ghost mystery HARVEST HOUSE, which Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called “a spine-tingling, edge-of-the-seat chiller.” Her 2024 middle grade releases are MISSION ONE: THE VICE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM (BLUE STARS #1), a Junior Library Guild selection, also by Kekla Magoon and Molly Murakami, and a road-trip novel titled ON A WING AND A TEAR. Cynthia is also the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollins.

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
271 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gisel
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2010
Verified Purchase
This is a great short story, but its way too short! Its only about a chapter long and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I hope this will be continued because its really entertaining
3 people found this helpful
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Sarah Johnson
3.0 out of 5 stars Too Short
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014
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Cat Calls by Cynthia Leitich Smith

2.5 stars

Tiffany works at a carnival. Her grandmother is a fortune teller and she's leaving Tiffany on her to discover what she's capable of. Of course, fortune telling may not be the only thing in Tiffany's future. Well this one was rather a let down. Of course, I wasn't expecting much from something so short, but this one was just... weird. I don't mean the concept was weird. No the writing was completely weird. It felt stilled and forced. Just off. It made the story very un-enjoyable. I also had the strangest sense of deja vu when reading. It was just strangely similar to a short story I read in Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction. At least at first it was and then it went in a good direction. I think this would've been better if it was longer and had more depth. More time to really flesh out and create a solid short story or novella.

The main female character is Tiffany. I don't really like her all that much. She calls herself a flirt and does stupid things to mess with the guys at the carnival. It's just weird and I don't think it really needed to be mentioned at all. I wanted to see where the story with her grandmother and father could've went. There was room at the end to have an explanation at some point by her grandmother about who her father was. Really Tiffany was just so underdeveloped that she didn't know who she was or where she came from and since it wasn't touched on, it made Tiffany seem like more a placeholder than an actual character.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 5

Then there was just some random guy who looked like a cowboy named Trevor. He, like Tiffany, had a lot of potential of character development if this would've been longer.

Swoon Worthy Scale: 5

The Villain- kitty

you've read the story this makes total sense.

Villain Scale: 0

So overall it's a quick and easy read. It's free on Kindle Amazon and if you (like me) want to hurry up and complete your 2013 reading challenge this is a quick read that is under 30 minutes.

Cover Thoughts: It's simple and nothing special. Just a basic black cover with the title.
2 people found this helpful
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JJ
4.0 out of 5 stars Do you know who you are?
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2010
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"Cat Calls" is a short, chapter-long story that is interesting despite that fact that the story feels rushed. I'm not entirely sure if it is a promo for another book or a stand alone story, but although the ending isn't very definite, it isn't a cliffhanger that leaves you needing more. I enjoyed the story about Tiff, a teenage girl living with her grandmother who is a fortune teller at a carnival. She finds out supernatural things about herself in this story that are intriguing, to say the least. The story isn't meant to be realistic, but rather entertaining. There are a few typos in the writing, but if you manage to ignore those you will be left with some really good YA writing; it's interesting without being over-the-top. Overall, this a good short story that is too hastily written to develop into an amazing story yet is interesting enough to make the reader enjoy it.

Warnings - Sexual Insinuations; Mild Language
2 people found this helpful
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Gail Christian
1.0 out of 5 stars Ridiculous ending
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2020
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Tiffany hits puberty late (age 16). She ecstatic that she became a bombshell overnight. Mom? Not so much. So Mom ships her off to spend the summer with Granny Z, a fortune teller working the carnival circuit. The story begins with Tiffany's first attempt to tell someone's future.

Now most people would think to train someone before just leaving them all alone to manage the business. Apparently not Granny Z. She gives Tiffany an outfit, sets her behind the crystal ball in the gypsy tent, and then LEAVES! What kind of plan is that? Tiffany has no clue what she is doing. Well, to be honest she thinks this whole fortune telling thing is a con, and you just make up a fortune for the folks who come see you. But she isn't even sure she can do that! What if people accuse her of being a fake?

The first clients (2 girls come in together) DO tell her she's terrible at this. However, by the time the next client leaves, Tiffany IS able to see some things in the crystal ball, and she manages to say something that convinces the woman and herself that maybe she really does have the gift.

So far I'm fine with this. No, I've never had my fortune read, and I don't ever plan to do so. But I do see the entertainment value at the carnival. I'm willing to go along with the story so far. But when Tiffany chases down her next customer to warn him he's in danger, I just thought, "That was stupid." I may be willing to go with the flow, so to speak, about the fortune telling. However, what she REALLY seems to be? Nope. Not buying that AT ALL! Although I WILL say it made the title of the story more meaningful.

I know. Some people like it all: witches, gypsies, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, ghosts.... I don't. (And I REALLY don't care about zombies!) I am willing to suspend belief only so far, and this went off the cliff for me. It would have been nice had the description told us what was to come. Then I could just have chosen not to read it. Maybe that's why we WEREN'T told: the author was afraid too many people wouldn't have read it. I don't know, but what I DO know is that I didn't like the ending and wished I'd never wasted my time with this.

Even if I was one who likes the whole spectrum of "powers", I would want one person to be ONE thing. Have you ever read of someone who was a ghost AND a witch? Or a vampire AND a superhero? Doesn't work for them, and this doesn't work for Tiffany. Pick one or the other, but don't have her be both. It just came across as ridiculous. So, no, I definitely wouldn't recommend this story. However, if you like multi-powered characters, you may be thrilled with this so give it a try. The good news is that it is short and won't take too much time to read.
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Leigh A Williams
2.0 out of 5 stars Too Short
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2011
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The beginning of this "short" story was really good - great description, and it got me wanting to keep reading, but unfortunately it was over just as quickly. I wish that I had known that this was more a chapter length story before reading, just so I would know what I was getting myself into. Overall it was alright, I would be interested in reading a full-length novel by this author, but though that this story was too rush and over too quickly.
One person found this helpful
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Linda decker
5.0 out of 5 stars Good short story
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2016
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This was very quick and easy reading. No time to lose your interest. Good surprise ending. Want to read more like this.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ms. Theresa M. Derwin
5.0 out of 5 stars The Cat is out of the Bag
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2023
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This short story from the Tantalized universe by Smith, sees Tiffany's body changing as she becomes a young adult and she's emerging as a 'babe'.
She's working through the summer for a carnival with her Granny Z, who is a psychic crystal ball reader and training Tiffany to be one.
This is fun, cute and kind of sexy whilst being dark and incredibly well written.
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zampadu
5.0 out of 5 stars Super
Reviewed in Germany on January 24, 2014
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Alles in vollster Ordnung. Verkäufer so wie es sein sollte. Immer wieder gerne. Meine Empfehlung für alle die hier kaufen wollen.
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Cheryl M-M
3.0 out of 5 stars Five minute read...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2012
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Literally a five minute read.
It is annoyingly disappointing, as are quite a few of this authors short stories. They are written purely and simply to promote the longer novels, which is fine, but I have to wonder why they are given so little attention. She comes up with quite interesting concepts and then just gives up half way through. Sort of like making a pie and forgetting to bake it.
This warrants more like 2.5 stars instead of three.
I do think if the author wants to entice readership to try her longer novels then she needs to put more effort into the short stories she is using to market the others.
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chloe
4.0 out of 5 stars Cat calls
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2013
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It was a good story but at the end ... not very good it was a disappoint ment but overall great short story.:] xxxxxxxxxx
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stacey
1.0 out of 5 stars Ok
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2021
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Ok
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