Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Copyright: 2005
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 425
Challenges: 1st in a series
New-to-me Author: yes
Author's Website



Simple Description:
Tally is still an ugly, although she'll be 16 in a couple of months and then she'll be made into a pretty and can hang out with her best friend Peris again. One day Tally sneaks into New Pretty Town to see Peris and she is almost caught. She runs to the river to cross but see's somebody standing their keeping guard. She thinks it's a Middle Pretty who is going to get her in trouble but it's not, it's another ugly named Shay. Shay and Tally become good friends and right before they are to turn 16 Shay tells Tally that she is not going to have the operation, she is going to join a group in the Smoke who remain Ugly.

When it's Tally's turn to have her option, a group called Special Cirumstances tells her that unless she kinds the Smoke for them, she will never be a pretty. At first Tally won't do it but then she decides it's the best thing to do. Once she gets to The Smoke, however, she begins to really like it there and learns that it's not all bad being Ugly. She decides she isn't going to contact Special Cirumstances because she has decided to live in the Smoke, however one morning they show up.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I found the concept of this book rather interesting. It's set in the not so distant future and the whole concept (at least what Tally learns in school) of being made into a Pretty where everyone kinda looks the same is to keep people from fighting over the color of their skin and how they look, etc. In fact, come to find out, being Ugly is just being natural - it's what all of us are.

I found the book to be rather good, it kept my interest and it was neat to learn about why they are Pretty's and how things work in this new world. This is the first the series and I definitely plan to read the rest.

This book is part of my collection and was either bought or given to me.