Meet the Beast -- before there was Beauty

Orasmyn is the prince of Persia and heir to the throne. His religion fills his heart and his mind, and he strives for the knowledge and leadership his father demonstrates. But on the day of the Feast of Sacrifices, Orasmyn makes a foolish choice that results in a fairy's wretched punishment: he is turned into a beast, a curse to be undone only by the love of a woman.

Thus begins Orasmyn's journey through the exotic Middle East and sensuous France as he struggles to learn the way of the beast, while also preserving the mind of the man. This is the story of his search, not only for a woman courageous enough to love him, but also for his own redemption.

About The Author

Photo Credit:

Donna Jo Napoli

Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed and award-winning author of many novels, both fantasies and contemporary stories. She won the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water in 1997. Her novel Zel was named an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a School Library Journal Best Book, and a number of her novels have been selected as ALA Best Books. She is a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband. Visit her at DonnaJoNapoli.com.

Product Details

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (February 24, 2015)
Length: 272 pages
ISBN13: 9781439115459
Ages: 12 - 99

Raves and Reviews

The New York Times Book Review Sophisticated.

Kirkus Reviews, starred review Exotic...compelling, relentless.

School Library Journal, starred review An elegantly sensual retelling of "Beauty and the Beast."

Booklist A winning version for genre fans.

Voice of Youth Advocates An engaging novel that takes the familiar story and adds a whole new depth to it....It will be hard to keep Beast on the shelf.