Beau and Bett

by Kathryn Berla

Overview

"Genuinely moving... An entertaining YA romance with multilayered charaters -a winner." -Kirkus Reviews

In a faraway land, Bettina Diaz lives in a shining castle . . . Okay, so she lives on a sprawling ranch in California, but close enough. Nicknamed "the Beast" at school, Bett has an infamous temper. And a secret.

When Beau LeFrancois's mother hits Bett's luxury SUV, his family faces an impossibly large bill. To pay off the debt, Beau spends his weekends working on the Diaz Ranch. He's prepared to work, but he's not prepared for Bett's harshness to melt away as he learns what's behind her tough facade. Beau finds

himself falling for her . . . until the day he catches her in a lie

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948705448
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/25/2019
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kathryn Berla likes to write in a variety of genres including light fantasy, contemporary literary fiction, and even horror. She is the author of the young adult novels: 12 Hours in Paradise, Dream Me, The House at 758, and Going Places. The Kitty Committee is her first novel written for adult readers.

Kathryn grew up in India, Syria, Europe, and Africa. Her love for experiencing new cultures runs deep, and she gives into it whenever she can. She has been an avid movie buff since childhood, and often sees the movie in her head before she writes the book.

Kathryn graduated from the University of California in Berkeley with a degree in English. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Editorial Reviews

06/01/2019

Gr 8 Up—When Beau LeFrancois's mom stops her car to pick an avocado for her son, she isn't worried about trespassing on the Diaz Ranch. But when she begins to drive away and crashes her uninsured car into Bettina Diaz's Range Rover, her son ends up at the ranch to bargain with Mr. Diaz and try to find a way to pay for the damage. To settle the debt, on weekends Beau begins working on the ranch, where he starts to develop a cautious friendship with Bettina, whose school nickname of "Beast" strikes Beau as unnecessarily harsh. The more time the two spend together, the more complicated things become: Beau feels like the wealthy rancher's daughter would never understand the way he and his family live, especially now that his father is injured and out of work, but he can't fight the growing respect and friendship he feels for Bettina. What starts out as a gender-swapped yet distinctly familiar retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" becomes a contemporary story that touches on issues of harassment and the #MeToo movement. Beau is a thoughtful narrator, and the novel is an engaging read. The echoes of the source material are solidly woven throughout the narrative, and Berla pulls off a fairy-tale adaptation that stands on its own without magic, even managing to keep the dire condition of the "beast" that ultimately helps this beauty see his own heart. VERDICT Purchase where fairy-tale retellings are popular.—Jen McConnel, Queen's University, Ont.

School Library Journal