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.
Uglies by Scott Westerfield is the first in his The Ugly series. This is a young adult book, but the issues raised are good for adults to think about as well. Little children are considered so ugly they are cute, but when they are around 10 years old, they are sent away to a boarding school and called, "the uglies." At 16 they receive an operation that turns them into the society's version of pretty. Big eyes, small nose, tall, thin, etc. This operation is not an option, everyone must have it.
Westerfield has taken today's societal norms of what is considered beautiful and taken it about as far as it can go in his novel. If you're not pretty, you are not anything. This is the same thought that too many people have today and Westerfield shows how it's not the ideal. That looking and being different is what true prettiness is. His main character Tally learns this as she experiences life outside the society in which was raised.
This is a good story that makes you think about life's ideals as well. There are some twists and turns that keep you on your toes as you read. Give it a try!
I give this book 4 Bookworms!
Pages: 432
Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (May 3, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1442419814
ISBN-13: 978-1442419810
Sounds very current. I love it when we are challenged to accept ourselves as we are.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the sequels even more than the original, as they bring up even more issues about sameness vs. individuality. Definitely a good read!
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