This volume will do well in middle school library collections, as well as medium-sized public libraries with solid tween collections.-Jane Murphy.
The popularity of television series such as Once Upon a Time and Grimm make this book even more appealing to contemporary young readers. Readers learn how the Beast came to be cursed witness quite a bit of his backstory, as well as those of the other familiar faces, like Belle's father and feel satisfied by the conclusion and the hopeful message that beauty comes from within. The author knows the structure of fairy tales and enhances this one with some new characters who bring life to the "tale as old as time." She also weaves in a few threads from the old film version by Cocteau and hints at Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Valentino brings back the Macbethian "Odd Sisters"-young witches with a definite nod to Shakespeare's Weird Sisters-who first appeared in her retelling of Snow White, Fairest of All (Disney, 2009), in which we can see the villain's point of view. The writing is polished and appealing to young teens, with just enough spin on the old tale to encourage young readers to stay with the story.
4Q 4P M This prequel to Beauty and the Beast is presented as a young adult title, yet its layout and format might attract a middle-grade population.
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