Uglies
The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is a great adventure book about a young girl named Tally who is about to turn into a pretty, but when Tally meets Shay (a pretty rebel) Tally must decide if she wants to become a pretty or stay true to her friend. When Shay runs away to a place called the Smoke (a place where rebels go if they don't want to become a pretty) Tally is forced to go after her friend and turn her in or she can never become a pretty. When Tally finds the Smoke she meets David (the son of the founders of the Smoke, who also grew up in the wild) he teaches her that you don't have to have an operation to be beautiful. Tally decides not to betray her friend and the rest of the Smoke, but accidentally sends special circumstances (a group of pretties that have been looking for the Smoke, also the ones that forced Tally to find Shay) they destroy the Smoke and take every one back to their hometowns except Tally and David who escaped. Tally and David save all of the Smokies except Shay who was turned into a pretty and David's dad (one of the founders of the Smoke) who died from medical experiments. David's mom (a former doctor and the other founder of the Smoke) finds a way to cure Shay because when you have the operation to become a pretty you get a lesion in your brain (the lesion makes it so you are not able to think the same way as before) and Shay got the lesion, but since she has the lesion she thinks nothing is wrong with her brain. David's mom won't try the cure on Shay unless she agrees because her husband (David's dad) died because of medical experiments, but Shay won't agree so Tally tries to get Shay to remember that she never wanted to have the operation. Shay still won't agree so Tally tells David's mom that she will turn herself into special circumstances, become a pretty and take the cure. Through all of this David finds out that Tally originally came to destroy the Smoke and that it was her fault that his dad died and his home was destroyed. So Tally goes to New Pretty Town (the place where new pretties live) with Shay and turns into a pretty and hopes that after a few weeks David will come and save her and give her the cure to make sure everything works safely so David's mom will give it to Shay.
One theme I found in the book was the noble sacrifice. I think the noble sacrifice was one of the themes because I saw Tally sacrifice herself. I saw Tally sacrifice her dream of becoming a pretty by staying loyal to her friend. I also saw Tally sacrifice David by telling him that she had originally come to the Smoke to destroy it. The last time I saw Tally sacrifice something was when Tally risked sacrificing everything (David, her friends, a lesion free brain) on becoming a pretty to help save Shay. I have sacrificed myself before, but not in a life or death situation. That is why I think the noble sacrifice is one of the themes in the book.
I really enjoyed the book because it is really not like any other book I have read before. I think Scott Westerfeld has some very interesting ideas in the book and I also like that the book is based in the future with a lot of new technology that makes the book fun to read. I would recommend Uglies to people who like adventure books and doesn't mind reading a 425 page book, but overall I think almost any one would like this book because of the cool technology and adventures Tally has.
Scott Westerfeld has written a lot more books than just the Uglies like the rest of the series of the Uglies. Pretties, Specials and Extras are the rest of the series. I would really like to read the rest of the series because Scott Westerfeld left Uglies at a good spot for him, but a bad spot for the reader. So I want to finish the series so I can find out what happens to Tally. Those are just a few of the other books Scott Westerfeld has written.
I got this picture from http://www.peabody.k12.ma.us/Curriculum%20&%20Instruction/summerreading/2008/grade808.htm
