Beastly

Beastly, by Alex Flinn [YA Fiction]

by Wendy, age 17

New York City streets and Beauty and the Beast rolled into one, how could anyone resist? At least, not me. Kyle Kingsbury is the most obnoxious, shallow high-school freshman you could imagine, before he goes a little too far with his snotty comments and gets turned into a monstrous beast by a girl in his class and has two years to find true love before the spell sets forever. I thought there was going to be some modern twist, but it stays surprisingly true to the original fairy tale, roses and all. I was amazed by the depth of character in the Beast and his love, a bookish (of course) girl named Lindy. And even though you know how it’s going to end, you read anyway. Says something about the book.

Beauty

Beauty, by Robin McKinley [YA Fiction]

by Wendy, 11th grader

If anyone loves the “tale as old as time” as much as I do, they will adore Robin McKinley’s Beauty, a retelling of this classic fairytale. Written from a first-person perspective of Beauty, this novel does a wonderful job of humanizing all the characters, from Beauty (of course), to the invisible servants of the enchanted castle, to Beauty’s sisters. One can’t help but fall in love with the eager-to-please Beast, and although a happily-ever-after is, of course, anticipated, you are constantly kept in suspense of what happens next.

On a final note, to fans of the Disney movie: Belle’s love of books and personality is obviously influenced by this Beauty (McKinley published this in 1978 and the movie came out about 15 years later).