"In a world of extreme beauty anyone normal is ugly."
Uglies
written by Scott Westerfeld
Somehow it has become almost common for people to have plastic surgery. Face lifts, liposuctions, breast implants, nose jobs, ect. have grown in popularity due to some people lack of satisfaction with their physical appearances. It can be easy to fall into the trappings of believing you are not pretty because all those skinny, bronzed, flawless models are considered the pretty ones so by default you are now the ugly one. Scott Westerfeld addresses this in his book Uglies.
In the utopian society he has created everyone is ugly until they have an operation on their sixteenth birthday that scrubs their ugly skin away and sands down their ugly bones then re-creates some one that’s pretty. Even though the surgery is extreme and no one really looks like himself or herself anymore. It is an operation every child eagerly awaits because everyone is ugly until they are turned pretty.
This book really makes the reader reflect on how they view themselves. Do you wish you could have the pretty operation? Whether your answer is yes or no it brings many thoughts to your head. Even with this books heavy message the story that is told is fantastic. The book focuses on Tally Youngblood barley a month away from getting her procedure. Her excitement to be pretty is contrasted when she meets Shay, a girl who doesn’t see the problem with their appearances now and is reluctant to change. Tally is confused about why Shay doesn’t realize how ugly they are as they are now. Tally is especially befuddled when Shay invites her to run away from the mandatory surgery. When Shay does run away Tally can’t help wondering why anyone wouldn’t want to be pretty.
While Tally is able to move past her run in with Shay, the government is not. In order to maintain strict control the government enlists Tally to search for Shay and the secret rebel hideout she ran away to. Now with Tally’s operation and life as a pretty on the line she must venture out of the bubble-like city to find the runaway camp by pretending to be a runaway herself then betray them. The camp is not easy to find, and Tally might have a harder time deciding whether to betray Shay and the camp or to be ugly forever.
