Uglies

~by Scott Westerfeld
2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award Nominee
2006 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
2006 Ditmar Award Nominee
2006 Golden Duck Award Winner



Tally can't wait until her sixteenth birthday--that's when she turns pretty and will be able to join all her pretty friends across the river. But until then, she and the rest of the uglies must remain in their place, leading sheltered lives and never venturing far from the school and dormitories. At least, their not supposed to. A few tend to bend and even break the rules; Tally herself has snuck across the river many a time.

Her best friend Peris is lucky; he's already turned sixteen and had the operations needed to make him pretty. Poor Tally is left mostly alone, until she meets and befriends a fellow mischievous ugly, Shay. But Shay isn't so happy about turning pretty. In fact, she would rather stay just as she is. Shay runs away to a hidden, outsider community to ensure that this will never change.

Tally once again is left alone. But everything will be better once she is pretty. Except the authorities refuse to turn her pretty until she helps find her friend, and bring her back. The decisions she faces, and the decisions she makes, will change her life forever.

The first book in a trilogy, Uglies is wonderful dystopian fiction for young adults. I did want to throttle a character now and then, but for the most part this book was quite enjoyable and I look forward to reading the next two books, Pretties and Specials.

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