2. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
ISBN: 0689865384
Simon Pulse, New York, 2005
448 pages

Teaser: In Tally's futuristic world, sixteen marks the day you transform from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, courtesy of an operation everyone receives. Painless and free, who wouldn't want to become a Pretty and party the night away?

Summary: Tally is fifteen, and can't wait to turn sixteen. Tally is an "ugly," someone who hasn't had plastic surgery. At sixteen, everyone undergoes an operation to fix their flaws and enhance their beauty to supermodel-like levels. These "New Pretties" then go to a separate part of town where they party and have fun without any responsibility. Tally can't wait to become a pretty, and fortunately she won't have to wait very long. Then Tally makes friends with a fellow ugly, Shay, who stuns Tally by announcing that she doesn't want the pretty operation. Shay runs away to a secretive colony called the Smoke, a low-tech band of people who refuse to have the surgery. This group is spoken of, but no one knows where it actually is, a fact that infuriates those in charge of maintaining order. The authorities grab Tally, and inform her that she has a choice: never have the surgery, or betray Shay and the other Smokies by infiltrating their settlement and activating a beacon to allow the authorities to finally locate this elusive group. Following the cryptic clues left by Shay, Tally sets out to find the Smoke, but will she be able to betray them? Will she want to?

Evaluation: This is a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable book. The timeline is set after our society, called the Rusties, was destroyed by a bio-weapon that caused petroleum to explode on contact with air. Tally's society is eco friendly, relying on solar power for almost everything, and not impacting the world outside the footprints of their cities. People are not aggressive towards each other, which is explained at first by a combination of commonly accepted "truths" in the story: 1) that people are nicer to pretty people, and with everyone pretty, everyone is nicer, 2) overpopulation and scarce resources led to wars, and now that the population is smaller and there is enough to go around, people don't have to fight for things. The chilling truth is this: the pretty operation includes selective brain damage, targeting the parts of the brain that cause aggression. Pretties don't fight because they can't really get mad and stay that way. The damage also makes pretties a bit more willing to go with the flow and do as they are told. Select people, such as law enforcers, safety personnel, doctors, and leaders, have this damage fixed, but most of the population is kept non-aggressive and agreeable. Readers wanting to know more about this universe can also pick up the guide the author wrote, Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies, which explains much of his reasoning for various parts of the four books that make up the series.

Challenge issues and age recommendation: Plastic surgery as a way of life, personality modification, alcohol use(though not considered underage for the society in the story), betrayal and deceit are all present in this story. The focus on exterior beauty, as well as the truth behind this beauty, may be disturbing for some readers, but I find the book to be fairly non-offensive overall. I'd recommend this book for readers 12 and up, though I think even adult readers would enjoy this book.