I'll preface this review by saying that we do not have Uglies, nor the others in the series (Pretties, Specials, and Extras), at the Upper School Library. We do, however, have them at the Middle School Library, and all Lakeside students are allowed to check out books at either library. Just sose ya know.
I'd meant to read this series for a long time now, because they are quite popular and because I love Scott Westerfeld, the author, and I finally picked up a copy of Uglies to see what the excitement was all about.
In Uglies, Tally is about to turn 16, and in Tally's future Earth, this birthday means it is finally time to turn from an Ugly to a Pretty. An Ugly is pretty much you and me -- people who look the way they do because they are born that way. But in Tally's world, when you turn 16, you have an operation that will turn you into a biologically-determined, perfect, beautiful person. And this operation is pretty much mandated by the government, so that everyone has this operation. After the operation, the New Pretties get to live in New Pretty town, where their only job is to have fun all the time: drink, go to great parties, have all the clothes and high-tech gadgets you want. Of course, after a time, they become a Middle Pretty and go on to get good jobs, get married, and have children -- who will become Pretty on their 16th birthday. It's a cycle that no one questions, and why should they? Making everyone Pretty rids the world of looks-based discrimination forever, in employment, in social life, in racial terms. It also rids the world of diseases like anorexia and bulimia.
So, why would anyone not want this operation? Tally, very lonely after her best friend becomes a Pretty and goes to live in New Pretty Town, meets a girl named Shay, who quickly becomes a friend. Shay and she share the same birthday, and Tally is excited that they will turn Pretty together. But Shay doesn't want the operation. She believes that people are beautiful the way they are -- different, imperfect, not boring. The night before her operation, Shay runs away, looking for a group called the Smoke, who have refused the operation and live in the wilderness off the land. Of course, this is illegal, as Tally finds out when she goes for her own operation and is told that she will never become Pretty -- unless she tracks down her friend, infiltrates the Smoke, and leads the government right to their hiding place.
In a world where Ugly and Pretty are sharply defined, the only discrimination that can exist is discrimination of people who, for one reason or another, do not get to be Pretty. Tally cannot bear the thought of living in her neighborhood forever, growing disgustingly old, the only old Ugly in a sea of perfect Pretties. Though she doesn't want to hurt her friend, she agrees to find Shay and the Smoke, and betray them -- and that's just where this book starts. Along the way Tally learns a terrible secret about the Pretty-making operation that the government doesn't want anyone to know -- but is it too late for her to change her mind?
I can safely say that this first book is excellent -- thought-provoking, suspenseful, scary, funny, and sad. All of the characters introduced are multi-layered. Tally, the protagonist, has to make some difficult choices in which, no matter what she chooses, someone she loves will be hurt, whether that is her new best friend, Shay, or herself. The choices she makes are often ones that come about because she feels she is not in control of her own destiny, and you have to wonder reading this -- is she? Tally does some terrible things in this first book, then rationalizes them or attempts to correct them, leading to even more terrible things, but she remains extremely sympathetic. She's just a teen trying to do the right thing and finding that the "right thing" is all about perspective. This book raises questions with no easy answers, and the ending only sets the scene for the next three books.
This series is highly recommended. Go check it out at your local library, or ask an Upper School librarian to contact the Middle School library for you!