Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

For some odd reason, when I started reading this book I thought it was about modeling. The tag line on the cover is, "In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly." Hence, modeling. I was pleased to find that Scott Westerfeld's Uglies is a new take on Brave New World, in a teenager's perspective. It asks some deeper questions than most young adult literature and introduces a heroine worth admiring. Tally Youngblood is three months away from turning sixteen, which in her world, means a series of intense operations that make an adolescent "pretty." The newly changed pretties get to live in New Pretty Town, across the river, and go to great parties, wear beautiful clothes, and bask in their new gorgeousness. Tally is still an "ugly" when the novel begins, which is basically what this society calls an adolescent. Before becoming an ugly, one is just a littlie. The society has placed everyone in categories based on looks. They claims that by making everyone pretty, everyone is on a level playing field, therefore solving all of the world's problems in one fell swoop (wars, violence, waste, unemployment, etc). The thought of becoming pretty consumes Tally's every waking moment until she makes a new friend, Shay. Shay is unsure about turning pretty, and has heard about people who run away and just stay "ugly" their whole lives. Right before their sixteenth birthdays, Shay decides to run away to "The Smoke." The authorities force Tally to make an extremely hard decision: tell on Shay or not get the "pretty operations." The path Tally goes down will change her life irrevocably. You'll have to read to find out what she ultimately decides! This is the first of the dystopian series by Scott Westerfeld, so I will definitely pick up Pretties, Specials and Extras soon!

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