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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Lyons Public Library | SF FLI | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Flinn, A. 2007 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | YA FLINN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | TEEN FLINN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN Flinn, A. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | TEEN FLINN | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
With a new Beauty and the Beast movie hitting theaters in spring 2017, it's time to catch up on all things Beastly. Find out what it was like for the beast in Alex Flinn's contemporary retelling of the classic tale.
I am a beast.
A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright--a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.
You think I'm talking fairy tales No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever--ruined--unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.
Author Notes
Alex Flinn was born in Glen Cove, New York. Before going to law school, she received a degree in vocal performance (opera) from the University of Miami. She practiced law for ten years before becoming a full-time author. She based her first book, Breathing Underwater, on her experiences interning with the State Attorney's Office and volunteering with battered women. Breathing Underwater, which is about dating violence, won the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award in 2004. She has written several books including Diva, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and A Kiss in Time. Her current title Beastly has been published in three editions and made Publishers Weekly best seller list.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8-10-Privileged, popular, and proud, high school student Kyle Kingsbury knows he can get away with virtually anything because of his good looks and his father's money.Å But Kyle goes too far when he sets out to humiliate a mysterious and unpopular girl at the school dance.Å The girl turns out to be a witch who casts a spell on Kyle, turning him into a beast who is now as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside.ÅThe only way for Kyle to break the curse is to fall in love with someone who will look past his appearance and love him in return.ÅAlexÅFlinn's modern retelling (HarperTeen, 2007) of Beauty and the Beast is performed by Chris Patton whose believable, youthful voice helps listeners identify and sympathize with the Beast as he starts to transform from arrogant, selfish, and cruel to caring and kind.ÅHis nuanced narration gives the main characters individual personalities, including the occasional beastly growl he adds to Kyle's voice and the chat room conversations with other victims of magical transformations.ÅListeners will be satisfied with this tale of personal growth and love that also addresses the larger issues of society's fixation on beauty and popularity.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Flinn (Diva) delivers a lighthearted and contemporary twist on Beauty and the Beast, and while there is nothing shocking nor any striking departure from the original, her retelling is eminently satisfying. Kyle Kingsbury is a gorgeous high school freshman, spoiled rotten by his famous anchorman father, a man who'd rather dole out cash than affection. Kyle attends the exclusive Tuttle School in New York City and torments those poor unfortunates who lack his looks and wealth. When he humiliates a girl at school, she transforms him into a horrific-looking creature. Kyle's only hope for breaking the spell lies in finding true love-as he reports online in meetings of the Unexpected Changes chat group (other members include Froggie and the mermaid Silent Maid). Flinn follows the fairy tale's original plot points closely, but falters in her depiction of the story's bad guys, over-the-top caricatures that simply ring false in her up-to-date setting. Kyle's father, for example, spends literally three minutes with him each day, the time it takes him to heat his dinner in the microwave. Even so, the happily-ever-after ending is rewarding, if not surprising. Ages 14-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Cavalier and cruel, Kyle Kingsbury rules as prince of an upper-crust school until he angers the wrong Goth girl, who casts a spell that makes him look as ugly as his inner self. When claws, fur and fangs appear, Kyle is confined to a Brooklyn brownstone, where he grows roses, paws through The Hunchback of Notre Dame and IMs other transformed kids. Flinn's contemporary adaptation of Beauty and the Beast pulls fairy tales and classics like Phantom of the Opera into the context of modern teen life. Kyle's hilarious chat-room sessions most effectively exploit clever convergences of old and new. Chris Anderson moderates (sans Hans), while BeastNYC (Kyle), Froggie (a webbed prince) and SilentMaid (a little mermaid) offer support using the virtual vernacular. Teens will LOL. They will also find their preoccupations with looks, status and pride explored thoroughly. When Lindy, Kyle's Beauty, moves in, much of the interesting adaptive play recedes, but teens will still race to see if the beast gets his kiss, lifts the curse and lives happily ever after. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In this unusual foray into fantasy by an author best known for gritty realism, a wealthy, narcissistic ninth-grader, Kyle, plans a mean trick right out of Stephen King's Carrie; less than 24 hours later, he has been transformed by his victim (an undercover witch) into a hairy beast and given two years to break the spell. The remainder of Flinn's Beauty and the Beast retelling chronicles Kyle's redemption from his own, rapidly evolving point of view, culminating in his sensitively forged relationship with houseguest-hostage Lindy, whose presence in the beast's Brooklyn mansion is explained in a manner befitting the contemporary setting. Flinn's storytelling is least convincing whenever the reality beyond the mansion intrudes, with comic chat-room interludes seeming especially jarring. Some readers may also question why a public outburst of violence committed by Kyle has no consequences. But through her character's psychological transformation, Flinn finds ways to address some larger, painful truths about male adolescence, making this a rare fairy-tale-inspired novel with equally strong appeal for boys and girls.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2008 Booklist