Uglies

Tally is the main protagonist in UGLIES. She is about to turn sixteen and undergo a surgery that will turn her into a “Pretty.” Teens will relate to her as she desperately wants to join all of her friends that have already had the surgery. Because of her late summer birthday she feels like she is being left behind by everyone else.

The government keeps the “Uglies” very sheltered and only teaches them what they want them to know. For example, the history of the “Rusties” is very mysterious and no one really knows why the society is no longer around and the government wants to keep it that way.

The characters are very well developed throughout the story. Tally wants nothing more than to become pretty and has never questioned the government’s motives around the operation. Shay on the hand wants nothing to do with becoming pretty and wants to live in a society where everyone can be themselves.

There are three futuristic settings in this dystopian society book and they are all very different. Uglyville is strictly run by the government. This is where the children go years before they have their operation. The government raises the children and has very specific rules for what they are and are not allowed to do. They have to wear rings that track their every movement. New Pretty Town is where the children went to live right after their operation. People in New Pretty Town do not have a care in the world. Their only concern is what they are going to wear to the next party and how much they had to drink the night before. In contrast to both of these places is the Smoke. People in the Smoke run their own lives. There is no set ruler and everyone pitches in to do their part. People in the Smoke have not had the pretty operation so they accept each other how they are and place very little importance on looks.

Young Adults will be able to relate to the importance placed on looks in Uglyville and New Pretty Town. There is so much pressure for teens today to look a certain way or wear a particular brand of clothes that often they lose sight of what should be really important. Children in Uglyville have been trained to place a lot of importance on looks and to think they are ugly until their operation. When Tally meets David he tries to show her the error in her thinking. Tally thinks, “Maybe he really could see past her ugly face. Maybe what was inside her did matter to him more than anything else” (page 279).

I think Susan Hunter from the School Library Journal summed the book up best in her review. “Characterization, which flirts so openly with the importance of teen self-concept, is strong, and although lengthy, the novel is highly readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies” (2005).

Reference List:
Hunter, Susan. “Review of Uglies.” School Library Journal 51, no 3 (2005): 221. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2056/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=113&sid=a92428dd-9a2b-449e-b306-7683bd04afca%40sessionmgr110 (accessed November 2, 2011).