Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies. by Scott Westerfeld. Simon Pulse, 2005. 425 pages.

Plot: The story is set in a postapocolyptic future.  Two friends, Tally and Shay, are in the twelve to fifteen year old age group classified as “uglies.”  Children from birth to age eleven are known as “littles”.  At age 16, literally on your birthday, you get an operation that makes you into a “pretty.”  Everyone waits with joyful anticipation to become one of the “pretties” not only to be physically transformed, but to gain all the privileges that accompany the change. Or does everyone want the operation?  Shay has decided that she wants to remain her natural self and avoid the change, but this society does not allow for the option of refusal.  Shay is forced to run away to a settlement called the Smoke, whose location is unknown to the greater society and is occupied by rebel refugees.  Individuals travel by hoverboards and many technological advances are available.  In order to find Shay, the government refuses to grant Tally her much desired operation unless she secretly helps them locate Shay.  Reluctantly Tally sets out to find Shay, who has left her a note describing where she is and an invitation to join her in the Smoke, and is being electronically tracked by the government. She reaches the settlement, betrays Shay and the government is alerted and sends full battle response to destroy the settlement and capture the renegades.  What will happen when all are returned to Prettytown? What mind altering transformation takes place with the operation that only the government knows about?  Will Shay and Tally become “pretties’? 

Review/Personal thoughts:  I don’t usually venture into science fiction.  I was not disappointed by Uglies.  It will certainly appeal to tweens with the main characters being young girls.  The author does a great job of keeping the reader’s interest with exciting scenes like using hoverboards to sneak into Prettytown and the government’s crackdown on the rebels.  The characters are adequately developed, but I was not particularly drawn to them, although I was pulling for Shay in her quest to resist the conformity. Conformity is one of the themes explored in the book for tweens to consider as well as, body image, the rights of the individual, betrayal, friendship, peer pressure and uncontrolled technology.  I am not in a hurry to read the next book in the series, but my guess is that tweens who like this one will be. 

Genre: Science Fiction

Reading Level: 5.2  Interest level: Ages 11 and up.

Awards:  ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2006