Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this book, set in the future, deals with our culture's obsession with physical perfection and hedonism. There is some fighting and a minor character is killed, not seen. A gruesome operation is described.
Families who read this book could discuss what the author is saying about the pursuit of beauty and mindless fun. It might be interesting to look at some teen beauty magazines while reading this, such as Seventeen and Teen Vogue. What's wrong with wanting to be beautiful and have fun? Is the life of the Smokies better in some way? If you could choose to be a "pretty," would you?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
The author manages a delicate balancing act here. It's obvious that he had a point to make when he decided to write a book about a futuristic society that celebrates beauty above all else -- and that the world of the book is a not-so-logical extension of certain trends in today's society having to do with physical attractiveness, plastic surgery, mindless consumerism and pleasure-seeking, and divorce from nature. But he never hits the reader over the head with a message and, in fact, allows the lives of the pretties enough appeal to make the argument two-sided. Therein is found the makings of a good discussion group book.
This intellectual argument is set inside a crackling, though at times maddeningly predictable, story. About two-thirds of the way through the book is a series of events that alert readers will not only have seen coming a hundred pages earlier; they'll also have known how Tally could avoid them, and be frustrated that she so stupidly falls into them instead.
But immediately afterwards the story picks up again, and the final third is a breathtaking race to the cliffhanger ending, which will leave readers hurrying to the library or bookstore to pick up the next installment, Pretties.
From The Book
A pretty couple wandered down the path. Tally froze, but they were clueless, too busy staring into each other's eyes to see her crouching in the darkness. Tally silently watched them pass, getting that warm feeling she always got from looking at a pretty face. Even when she and Peris used to spy on them from the shadows, giggling at all the stupid things the pretties said and did, they couldn't resist staring. There was something magic in their large and perfect eyes, something that made you want to pay attention to whatever they said, to protect them from any danger, to make them happy. They were so ... pretty.
Plot Summary:
Tally has grown up in a post-apocalyptic world where, at the age of 16, everyone is given an operation that makes their faces and bodies perfect. Before the operation they are known as "uglies," and after as "pretties." After the operation they live in New Pretty Town, enjoying a life of constant partying and pleasure. Tally can't wait.
Shortly before her 16th birthday she befriends Shay, who tells her about the Smoke, a secret community of those who refuse the operation. When Shay runs away to join the Smoke, Tally is given a choice by the Specials, the secret police: help them find the Smoke and betray her friend, or remain an ugly forever.
Related Books:
Other Books in the Trilogy
Pretties
Specials
Also by the Author
Peeps
More Dystopian Novels
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Waterbound by Jane Stemp
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
Among the Hidden (Shadow Children, Book 1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
Feed by M. T. Anderson
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
1984 by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Goodness Gene by Sonia Levitin
Related Web Site
Author's site
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Sexual ContentA couple of kisses. |
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ViolenceA skirmish and a death. A woman is hit in the head and knocked out. The gruesome details of an operation are described. |
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Social BehaviorRaises issues about our culture's obsession with physical perfection and hedonism. |
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CommercialismBarbie dolls are mentioned disparagingly. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSome drinking and drunkenness. |
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