Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

4Q 4P J S

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Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. Simon Pulse, 2005. 406p. $17.99. 978-1-4169--3638-1

In a highly unusual society where everyone is segregated into groups based on appearance, and sixteen year olds have a surgery that turns them beautiful, we meet those who accept and eagerly anticipate these changes, and those who reject them and try to escape.  Tally Youngblood, a not-quite-sixteen "ugly," can't wait to have her surgery and join her best friend Peris as a "pretty."  How exciting it will be to finally be beautiful and normal!  However, when she meets Shay, a fellow ugly awaiting her sixteenth birthday, she is introduced to the idea of natural beauty--the idea of people choosing not to go through with the surgery and running away.  When Shay decides to escape, Tally is recruited to find her and bring her back--or be an ugly for the rest of her life.

Scott Westerfeld's Uglies (Simon Pulse, 2005) stands out among the first of its kind in young adult literature--dystopian fiction.  Westerfeld brings the reader into this strange world with no pause for explicit explanation, instead letting the reader gradually become absorbed by the story and picking up meanings along the way.  Tally's interactions with the runaways gives a good message to teens about the way we think about our own body image and appearances: do we have to conform to what society wants if we already think we are fine?  Following Tally through self-discovery mirrors the growing up process we all must go through, and readers will appreciate being able to relate to her story.
 
A must-read for those who enjoyed series like Divergent, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and those who like a little rebellion in their lives.