Beauty

Title: Beauty

Author: Robin McKinley

Summary: Beauty's father wanders into an enchanted castle, where he is shown hospitality.  As he leaves, he picks a rose for Beauty.  But the Beast, the owner of the castle, tells him that he must bring back his daughter to live with the Beast or else come back alone and die.  Beauty comes to live with the Beast and discovers that he is not what he seems.  When she agrees to marry him, he turns into a prince.  

Stars: 8.  I like books that retell familiar stories (fairy tales and Shakespeare, for example).  

Violence: 3 for when the Beast sends the horse off by smacking it on the flank with his claws.  He frightens the invisible servants with a roar so loud that it actually tumbles Beauty over.  

Romance: 6, since it is a princess story.  It isn't graphic, though.  The invisible servants try to make Beauty wear a dress that she considers . . . immodest . . . but it isn't described in that much graphic detail.  (That was one of my favorite scenes.)  

Language: 0

Appropriate for: 9+  

Other: I really liked the description of places, especially of the castle.  The invisible servants were - to say the least - amusing.