Beastly by Alex Flinn

This modern rendition of Beauty and the Beast was amazing but I am already disappointed in the movie (they changed the characters far too much).
The story follows Kyle Kingsbury, son of local legend newsanchor Rob Kingsbury. Kyle has been raised to know that beauty is what makes a person successful. He's arrogant and shallow. So much so that when an unattractive student at his school becomes his date for homecoming, he works to humilate that student. Turns out, she was a witch in disguise. For his act, Kyle is turned into a hairy beast.
Sadly, Kyle is rejected by his father and locked away in a house away from their manhattan home. Kyle decides to embrace the beast and changes his name. His only companions are a blind tutor and a foriegn maid. They become his family but he's still lonely.
Kyle pours himself into creating a rose garden but one night a man breaks into the greenhouse looking for money for drugs. That man offers his only daughter in exchange for his freedom. Things start to change for Kyle when that daughter turns out to be the girl who saved him from an even worse fate.
I don't want to give too much away but the story stays fairly true to the tale. In truth the plot isn't as important as the growth the reader sees in Kyle. He becomes someone so wonderful that everyone will fall in love with him.
I'm sad to see that the movie has so many changes but I will see it when it comes to video.