LS 5623 Advanced Literature for Young Adults

Westerfeld, Scott. 2005. Uglies. Simon Pulse: New York.
ISBN 978-0689865381

In this futuristic world everyone is made pretty on their sixteenth birthday using extreme nip / tuck methods. Tally's birthday is at the end of the summer, leaving behind while all of her friends are having fun in New Pretty Town. Then she meets Shay, who has the same birthday as Tally. The week before their birthdays, Shay tells Tally she's running away to the Smoke and invites Tally. Tally refuses to give up becoming pretty. Then on Tally's birthday, Special Circumstances gives Tally a choice, find and spy on the runaway uglies or remain ugly forever. Tally reluctantly agrees and makes the long and dangerous voyage to the Smoke. There she finds that she can adapt to this sort of lifestyle, learns what really happens when someone is made pretty and decides to join the Smoke permanently. However, her symbolic act of destroying the pendant communicator given to her by Special Circumstances actually sets it off and the Smoke is raided. After the rescue of most of the captives, Tally volunteers to be a guinea pig for one of the Smoke's scientists in order to discover a way to fix what is done when one is made pretty.

I found the reasons behind the dystopian society in this novel a little obscure. It is mentioned a few times that the Rusties were wasteful and neglected resources, but no real explanation for making everyone pretty and stupid is forthcoming. I am hoping it is further expanded upon in later books in the series.

I thought that the twist to the coming of age story was interesting. Normally a rite of passage makes you more mature, wiser, and accepts the teen into adult society. Here the rite of passage accepts the teen into adult society, but it actually makes them dumber and therefore more compliant. Therefore in this story the teen has to reject the accepted rite of passage in order to become an intelligent adult.

One reviewer from VOYA in June of 2005 felt that the "story loses momentum describing Shay and Tally's lives as Uglies, Tally's wilderness trek, and the society in the Smoke, making the narrative frustratingly heavy with detail," and that "the book cuts off at a key point." I disagree with this reviewer. I think the details of the technology like the hover boards will keep interest and the details of the Pretties society is needed to give a good contrast to the rebel culture of the smoke. As for the book cutting off at a key point, I think that ending tied up all the plot points brought up by this novel and set up very well for the beginning of the second. The idea of testing an actual cure for the dumbed down pretty is not brought up during the course of the novel but only discussed at the end, therefore Tally's volunteering to become a pretty is a good cliff hanger for the next book.

The length of this novel may be daunting to reluctant readers or younger ones, so I'd recommend it to 8th grade and up.




Image taken from: http://readthisnow.pbworks.com/f/1196693274/uglies.jpg