Prey

McDaniel, Lurlene. 2008. Prey.

Prey tells the story of a teacher-student affair through multiple narrators. Ryan Piccoli is the student; he's a sophomore just shy of his sixteenth birthday. Lori Settles is the barely-thirtyish something history teacher with a love of all things stiletto. Honey is one of Ryan's friends who has been crushing on him for years.

As I mentioned earlier, it is told through multiple voices, and this is both good and bad. Some were more believably authentic than others. The basic premise of this one is whether or not this sexual relationship between teacher-and-student was victimizing or damaging. Ryan clearly from the moment he saw his new history teacher lusted after her. His fantasies of having his hot teacher were there right from the start. But the fact that his teacher had the same reaction almost immediately, choosing him as "the one" was a bit more disturbing. Soon his fantasies become all too real, and for the most part Ryan couldn't be happier about the situation. True, having all this sex with the teacher on the sly cuts down on his time to hang out with his friends. But it's a sacrifice he doesn't complain about all that much.

It's an interesting book but a slightly odd one. It's characters take on a seemingly authentic but not altogether socially acceptable viewpoint that consensual sex between two people no matter their ages is not victimizing or harmful or dangerous. Ryan's consistent voice throughout that he is not a victim and he hasn't been molested and whatnot is so completely different from the viewpoints portrayed in Boy Toy by Barry Lyga.

Other reviews: The Well Read Child, The Compulsive Reader,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews