conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a story titled Of Beast and Beauty about Isra, Gem, Monstrous with the genre: Teen & Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy.. End with the sentence ' No redistribution permitted.'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Gr 8 UpHundreds of years after humans landed on a distant planet, Smooth Skins live in protective domes that keep out the scaly skinned Desert People, whom they call Monstrous. Blind since childhood, 17-year-old Princess Isra makes clandestine nighttime visits to the dome's rose garden. Someday, as queen, she will have to shed her blood to water the roses and keep the city secure. To save their people from starvation, a Monstrous raiding party attempts to steal the roses and their magic. Isra demands that 19-year-old Gem be spared. She hopes that he can help her raise plants to stop the scaling skin that could doom her to banishment. Slowly Isra comes to see both literally and figuratively the deformities and mistreatment of the Banished inside the city and the injustices done to the Desert People outside. Gem realizes that Isra, too, is a prisoner, destined to marry Bo, whose powerful father manipulates events to make sure his son will rule the kingdom. Eventually Isra learns that the queens' bloodletting actually feeds an evil Dark Heart beneath the flowers. Only love between a Smooth Skin and a Monstrous can break an ancient curse. Isra, Gem, and Bo narrate chapters of this reimagining of the familiar tale. Isra and Gem reluctantly acknowledge their growing attraction that deepens into love. Bo, who might have emerged as a villain, instead questions the need for sacrifice and resists his father's demands. Explanations of complex history and legend slow the pace at times, but revelations and plot twists keep the action flowing and romance growing. Variations of conventions such as having a Monstrous attempt to steal roses and bring the dying princess to life are overshadowed by the final transformation of Isra, Gem, and their people into something entirely new, both Beast and Beauty. A satisfying read for fans of romantic fantasy.Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first four paragraphs for this story.. Start with the sentence 'Of Beast and Beauty
  He crosses his arms, emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Of Beast and Beauty
  He crosses his arms, emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders. It was hard for me to imagine him being descended from the same people as the small, narrow men of this city. Learning that half of his people came from somewhere else makes sense.
  He nods. "At first, the creatures left us alone, but when the land outside the domes began to die, their usual prey died along with it and they began hunting people."
  A kiss. It seems the thing to do. I lean in, pressing my lips to his forehead the way he pressed his to mine, offering comfort, but after only a moment he takes me by the shoulders and sets me gently away.
  It doesn't matter that the garden is a lie. I'm not tainted, and Gem isn't a monster. There might be no need for herbs to impede mutation. If the people in the Banished camp have scales or claws or other mutant characteristics, there's nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is the way the rest of the city treats them. I'll find a way to convince the whole citizens that they have nothing to fear from those who look different.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me five more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: I can't be without her. Seeing her held captive by the roses settled any question about that. I can't accept her death as a necessary evil. I won't have her blood spilled. Not for Yuan, not for the Desert People, or anyone else.
  Gare will never understand. Father, maybe, if I explain myself well, but Gare... never. He'll never forgive me for caring for a Smooth Skin. He'll hate me until the day he dies, and he'll go to his funeral pyre with a curse for me lingering in his soul.
  I'm sure most of my people will feel the same way. The Smooth Skins are the enemy. Our rage against them has been building for centuries, a bonfire stoked and fanned by every loved one lost too soon, every night spent listening to a child cry out in hunger, every morning a mother rolls over to find her baby starved to death on the pallet beside her.
  I know now that most of the Smooth Skins have no idea how their actions have affected my people, but I still have hate for them in my heart. I hate Bo and his father and the soldiers who damaged my legs, but I care for Isra more than I loathe them. I... I love her. And love is stronger than hate. I believe that. I believe Isra and I can change our worlds. Together. If we are brave.
  I finally feel brave. I won't ask Father to cut my warrior's braid. I'm not a coward. I'm a different kind of warrior, one who will fight with my heart instead of my hands, and I'll start by telling my people the truth. It would be easier to lie, but lies will never change the way they see the Smooth Skins, and we've all told too many lies. I'm sick of them.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last five paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: In this particular beginning, there were also a girl and a boy whose love had saved the world, and who refused to let the world slip back into darkness. Together they became the king and queen of a new nation, and led their people as wisely as they could. Sometimes that meant leading them into hiding. Sometimes it meant leading them into battle, and when it did, the boy and the girl fought their enemies fiercely. But when the battle was won, they remembered to be merciful, to begin again with love for their enemies as well as their friends.
  Love was the gift they gave their world. Love made them happy for many, many years, until it was time for yet another beginning.
  On the night their souls slipped away—within moments of each other, surrounded by children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the first great-great-grandchild with green eyes like the queen's—the Summer Star split down the middle, leaving two stars in its place.
  One was white and as pale as Queen Isra's skin when she was a girl, the other a luminous orange like King Gem's scales when he sat before the fire. They were celebrated and named Beauty and Beast, but none of the king or queen's people would ever say which star was which. They would only look kindly on the stranger who'd asked and say, "Beauty is wherever you find it, and Beast is there when you need to defend it."
  Centuries passed and cities rose and fell, wars were fought and lives were lost, but every summer, when Beauty and Beast appeared in the night sky, somehow the people remembered to love a little harder, and never again did their planet fall into darkness.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Reverse the sentences.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: "
  Centuries passed and cities rose and fell, wars were fought and lives were lost, but every summer, when Beauty and Beast appeared in the night sky, somehow the people remembered to love a little harder, and never again did their planet fall into darkness.. They would only look kindly on the stranger who'd asked and say, "Beauty is wherever you find it, and Beast is there when you need to defend it. They were celebrated and named Beauty and Beast, but none of the king or queen's people would ever say which star was which.
  One was white and as pale as Queen Isra's skin when she was a girl, the other a luminous orange like King Gem's scales when he sat before the fire.
  On the night their souls slipped away—within moments of each other, surrounded by children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the first great-great-grandchild with green eyes like the queen's—the Summer Star split down the middle, leaving two stars in its place. Love made them happy for many, many years, until it was time for yet another beginning.
  Love was the gift they gave their world. But when the battle was won, they remembered to be merciful, to begin again with love for their enemies as well as their friends. Sometimes it meant leading them into battle, and when it did, the boy and the girl fought their enemies fiercely. Sometimes that meant leading them into hiding. Together they became the king and queen of a new nation, and led their people as wisely as they could.In this particular beginning, there were also a girl and a boy whose love had saved the world, and who refused to let the world slip back into darkness