BEASTLY by Alex Flinn

Kyle Kingsbury is a handsome, spoiled, and pompous young teenager who always gets what he wants. He is concerned only with the superficial, never giving a thought to what lies beneath the surface. This all changes when he meets Kendra, a rather unattractive girl who criticizes Kyle’s inconsiderate behavior. It turns out that Kendra is a witch, and she casts a spell to turn Kyle into a beast. The only way the spell can be broken is for Kyle to fall in love and receive a kiss from his beloved. When nothing can be done to reverse the spell, Kyle’s father moves him to a large, secluded house, leaving only the housekeeper and a tutor to keep him company. Kyle begins to care for the rosebushes that surround his home, and when a man breaks in and tries to steal them, Kyle (now calling himself Adrian) becomes so enraged that he spares the man’s life on the condition that he bring his daughter Lindy to live with Adrian. Lindy arrives, and after some time and a dramatic rescue scene at the end of the book, Adrian and Lindy live happily ever after.

This is a twist on the familiar Beauty and the Beast tale. Set in New York City, this modern adaptation opens in a chat room, with BeastNYC conversing with a group of other creatures that have undergone or are considering transformation. Throughout the book, BeastNYC returns to the chat room, where he converses with the Frog Prince, the Little Mermaid and the Bear from the fairy tale “Snow White and Rose Red.” I would recommend this book to students who are fans of fractured and adapted fairy tales.