Uglies

Tally Youngblood, at 15 and 3/4 still one of the Uglies, is desperate for escape from the drudgery of waiting for that magic 16th birthday when she can redesign herself in the process of surgically becoming one of the Pretties. She'll be granted a whole new lease on life with a body of choice, including fresh, unblemished skin and re-ground bones, and the big move across the river to New Pretty Town, a city dedicated to the mindless pursuits of pleasure and decadence. How “bubbly!” What?! Yes, it’s true, it’s too true, but is it too good to be true? Only Scott Westerfeld knows for sure.

Tally’s new friend, Shay, who teaches her the thrills and chills of hover-boarding in their last days of ugliness, heads off to join the Smokies, who occupy land out west somewhere in a communal effort to remain true to themselves and live as nature intended. Tally is horrified but intrigued until the Department of Special Circumstances (yes, the Specials!) offers her a deal she can’t refuse: help them locate Shay and the other Smokies, or die trying. Well, it’s not that drastic, but if she refuses, she’ll remain an Ugly forever.

Talk about an adventure! Tally almost dies trying, having made the "big mistake" and slept among the white tiger orchids, but once she’s discovered Smoke, she doesn’t want to leave. One takes the rebels at face value, so to speak, no alterations necessary. David, who was born there (oh yes, she must meet his parents,) introduces her to a non-engineered society, that is, one built upon the tragic lessons of the Rusties but stopped well short of the plastic conformity of the Pretties, a place where work gloves and warm sweaters are worth a fortune in “SpagBol.”

And then, and then… as I said earlier, only Westerfeld knows for sure whether Tally will betray her new friends to the Department as promised. She does, after all, discover from David’s parents the secret of the lesions, and David’s kisses are quite warm, hmmm, yes. So…. what’s next? Some pretty special adventures hover just around the corner, if you know what I mean. Do you?