uglies

by Scott Westerfeld
425 pages
Pub. date 2005

Everyone gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forver.

I was impressed with this book. I sometimes judge a book by its title and this one made me not want to read it, until I was told it was a dystopian world, and then I decided to try it. Tally can't wait to be pretty while her new friend Shay doesn't want it. I love the way uglies have fun, they play "tricks" by sneaking out and being rebellious. These girls sneak out and almost connect with a person who lives in the wilderness. This twist in the story brings out a secret that changes how Tally sees the Pretties. I never saw it coming! It was so interesting and kept me guessing what was going to happen next.