The Uglies

Bibliographic Information: Westerfeld, S. (2005). The uglies. New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN: 0689865384

Plot Summary: Tally Youngblood is a teenager who lives in a futuristic society, where technology and science advances are rapidly increasing.  Tally’s whole world revolves around one idea: becoming a “Pretty”, which science has made not only possible, but required.  Everyone in Tally’s city is turned from an “Ugly” to a “Pretty” at the age of 16 and Tally can hardly wait.  All of her friends have already had the surgery to perfect every aspect of their bodies and now live in “New Pretty Town” where they get to party and play all day, every day.  To Tally Youngblood, what could be better?  She has heard of people running away from the surgery to live in “The Smokies”, but it’s not until Shay & David show her what the surgery really entails does she actually start to question what she has dreamt about her whole life.

Critical Evaluation: Scott Westerfeld takes on an incredible feat to openly mock our society’s continually growing emphasis on physical perfection.  He has taken the idea of plastic surgery to the extreme, but there is no hiding his feelings on where he thinks our society will end up in the future if we continue to focus on physical appearance.  It is refreshing to read about a teenage girl who eventually comes to see herself as beautiful in a world surrounded by individuals with “ideal” beauty.  It is uncommon today to find anyone truly happy with their physical appearance, without ever wishing they could change something.  Westerfeld plays on these feelings of mankind by showing them what the world could potentially be like if all we did was focus on perfection physically.  As Tally discovers what true beauty is, we are reminded to appreciate our differences and the uniqueness they bring us as a human race.  The Uglies series seems to be a kind of warning to our society of the danger of being so shallow.   

Reader’s Annotation: Everybody wants to be perfect, but at what price?

Information about the author: Scott Westerfeld had published eighteen novels including the uber-successful Uglies series.  He has been a ghostwriter for many famous writers, and he also wrote three Powerpuff Girl choose your own adventure books. Outside of books he has written music for downtown New York Dancers.

    Westerfeld and his wife, Justine Larbalestier split their time between New York and Australia, residing in each respective location during its summer season.  He has worked as a factory worker, substitute teacher, textbook editor, and software designer (Westerfeld, n.d.).

Genre: Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: English (literature)

Booktalking ideas (one or two):

1. Description of ugly features

Reading level/Interest age: 14+

Challenge Issues: This novel contains violence, death, rebellion, underage drinking, and teenage cosmetic surgery.

To defend challenged material I would:

1.    Read/watch/listen to the material to become familiar with the content.

2.    Familiarize myself with the Arizona Common Core curriculum standards http://www.azed.gov/azcommoncore/teacher/ to defend how the material can support the learning of these standards.

3.    Refer to the Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

4.    Refer to the collection policy of my library.

5.    Collect reviews from staff/students/patrons who have used the material

Why I included this book: The Uglies takes a deep look into our obsession with appearances.  The book has received glowing reviews from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Kliatt. (Westerfeld, n.d.)

References:

Westerfeld, S. (n.d.) Scott Westerfeld. Retrieved 7 May 2013 from

    http://scottwesterfeld.com/about-the-author/.