Uglies

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Average Rating
Series
Uglies volume 1
Publisher
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Publication Date
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English

Description

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

More Details

Contributors
Rosamilia, Mike book designer
Simon Pulse publisher
Simon and Schuster, Inc. publisher
Tremaine, Emily Narrator
Westerfeld, Scott Author
ISBN
9781416936381
9781442393929
9781442419810
9781416934509

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Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Both of these suspenseful science fiction series involve populations that are controlled by means of specialized surgeries. Hidden communities of resistors add tension and layers to these thought-provoking stories with a bit of teen romance. -- Beth Gerall
Though the Uglies series is more thought-provoking and Ashes tends more toward the gruesome, both of these teen series are set in post-apocalyptic worlds and are characterized by action-packed,compelling writing styles. -- Kelly White
Being surgically transformed into a Pretty is supposed to make life wonderful. Internment should be a Utopian home. But, in these suspenseful dystopian series, Morgan and Tally discover that perfection comes at a price they may be unwilling to pay. -- Stephen Ashley
Though Uglies is dystopian science fiction and Belles is lush fantasy, both of these compelling series are packed with adventure and explore the dark side of society's obsession with beauty. -- Stephen Ashley
These series have the theme "evil corporations"; the genre "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "frenemies," and "posthumanism."
These series have the appeal factors action-packed, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "posthumanism," and "teenage girls."
These series have the appeal factors thought-provoking, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "teenage girls," and "rebels."
These series have the appeal factors suspenseful and fast-paced, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subject "dystopias."
These series have the theme "for the resistance"; the genre "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "image," and "posthumanism."
These series have the appeal factors action-packed, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "rebels," and "teenage boy-girl relations."
These series have the genre "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "teenage girls," and "teenage boys."
These series have the appeal factors suspenseful, action-packed, and fast-paced, and they have the genre "science fiction"; and the subjects "teenage girls," "teenage boy-girl relations," and "teenage romance."
These series have the appeal factors action-packed, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "teenage girls," and "teenage boy-girl relations."
These series have the appeal factors suspenseful, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias," "teenage girls," and "near future."
These series have the appeal factors suspenseful and fast-paced, and they have the genres "science fiction" and "dystopian fiction"; and the subjects "dystopias" and "teenage girls."

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
While Tally of Uglies doesn't have the fighting skills of Divergent's Tris, both are strong heroines who begin to question their seemingly perfect worlds. These dystopian novels also include strong friendships, romance, and plenty of suspense. -- Jennifer Stubben Hatch
Readers looking for science fiction that is both action-packed and thought-provoking will find much to enjoy in these two dystopian novels about genetic engineering gone too far. -- Alina Gerall
Teen girls rebel against societal ideals (undergoing surgery to become pretty in Uglies and being a demure, "well-behaved" woman in Girls with Sharp Sticks) and discover the terrifying reality about the world around them in these suspenseful dystopian reads. -- Stephen Ashley
The heroines of both these fast-paced dystopian novels leave their once-thought benevolent societies behind for places where the many rules they've lived by don't apply. -- Jennifer Stubben Hatch
In these intense dystopian novels, teenage girls start to question the life-changing operation their oppressive government mandates for teens. Both girls redefine their values and grapple with the possibility of escaping to a rebellious colony in the wilderness. -- NoveList Contributor
In these thought-provoking science fiction novels, teens struggle to break free from the conformist standards of the dystopian societies in which they were raised. -- CJ Connor
In these suspenseful and action-packed works of science fiction, teen girls navigate tech-dominated societies rampant with questionable extreme makeovers (Uglies) and genetic engineering (Swift the Storm) in search of missing friends. -- Basia Wilson
These compelling, intricately plotted dystopian fiction books imagine a future where widespread body modification tech punishes anyone who strays from the norm (Uglies) or kills users when it malfunctions (Mindwalker). -- CJ Connor
Although Matched has more lyrical reflection and Uglies more fast-paced action, both future dystopia stories build detailed worlds and follow teen girls who are starting to question the rules of their tightly controlled, creepily perfect societies. -- Lesley James
Set in dystopian worlds that require teens girls to submit to makeovers (Uglies) and constant supervision (The Chaperone), these thought-provoking and compelling novels feature characters who call these draconian standards into question. -- Basia Wilson
The waning age - Grove, S. E.
Teens discover the dark truth about changes they are expected to undergo and learn they can't trust anything about the world around them in these fast-paced and thought-provoking dystopian reads. -- Stephen Ashley
These suspenseful and compelling dystopian stories follow teens who, when forced to become permanently pretty (Uglies) and happy (HappyHead), discover the twisted truth about the societies in which they live. HappyHead has more romance than Uglies. -- Stephen Ashley

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Neal Shusterman and Scott Westerfeld tackle serious issues in their books for teens, often blending genres that include fantasy, science fiction, and horror. The complex plots are thought-provoking, well-paced, and contain fully realized multifaceted teenage characters. -- Bria Judkins
Scott Westerfeld writes science fiction and Justine Larabalestier, urban fantasy set in times and places the reader almost recognizes. Young narrators deal with uncomfortable truths about themselves and the world -- aided by mentors, companions, and love interests. Books by these authors will appeal to teens who enjoy action and dark character-driven stories. -- Georgine Olson
Teen fans of science fiction filled with page-turning action and intriguing world-building will be drawn to the popular dystopian series by both of these authors. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
Scott Westerfeld and Steven Gould write science fiction for adults and teens narrated by youthful protagonists with unusual talents that rend them more than human, yet who live in a world that is still primarily human and often actively hostile - resulting in stories that blend action and introspection. -- Georgine Olson
These authors' works have the subjects "posthumanism," "princes," and "rebels."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Gr. 7-10. Fifteen-year-old Tally's eerily harmonious, postapocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birthdays, supposedly conferring equivalent evolutionary advantages to all. When a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on runaway teens, she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, a shadowy colony of refugees from the tyranny of physical perfection. At first baffled and revolted by the rebels' choices, Tally eventually bonds with one of their leaders and begins to question the validity of institutionalized mutilation--especially as it becomes clear that the government's surgeons may be doing more than cosmetic nipping and tucking. Although the narrative's brisk pace is more successful in scenes of hover-boarding action than in convincingly developing Tally's key relationships, teens will sink their teeth into the provocative questions about invasive technology, image-obsessed society, and the ethical quandaries of a mole-turned-ally. These elements, along with the obvious connections to reality programs such as Miami Slice, will surely cause this ingenious series debut to cement Westerfeld's reputation for high-concept YA fiction that has wide appeal. Suggest M. T. Anderson's Feed (2002) and Westerfeld's own So Yesterday (2004) to readers antsy for the next installment. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2005 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

In this launch title of a planned trilogy, teenager Tally Youngblood is living an unexamined life in a world unlike ours, hundreds of years from now. She's impatiently awaiting her birthday because in her town, Uglyville, everybody gets the same gift at age 16: cosmetic surgery which transforms them into gorgeous creatures. They also move into "party towers" in New Pretty Town. Tally's best friend has already made the transition and, motivated by her desire to see him, she sneaks into town. Her near-capture leads to a new best friend, Shay, who has the same birthday. On the eve of their operations, Shay reveals a plan to escape to a renegade settlement called "the Smoke." When Shay disappears, government agents blackmail Tally into leading them to the rebels. Once in the Smoke, Tally has a crisis of conscience when she learns the surgery is more sinister than she imagined. Teens will appreciate the gadgetry-including bungee jackets and hoverboards that work by magnetic levitation. But plausibility problems creep in, such as Tally leading a breakout of Smokeys from a high-tech compound while wearing handcuffs. As in his So Yesterday, Westerfeld introduces thought-provoking issues, but readers may lose track of the plot while sorting the many messages about how the "Rusties" nearly destroyed the planet. They may also feel cheated when, after 400-plus pages, the ending leaves loose ends to be tied up in the next installment, Pretties. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up--Scott Westerfield's dystopic young adult novel (S & S, 2005) plays on adolescent changes, both physical and emotional. In this futuristic world, upon reaching their 16th birthday, teens undergo an operation to turn them from an "Ugly" into a thoughtless and vain "Pretty." Tally is nearly 16 and very much anticipating crossing that threshold; her boyfriend, a few months older than she, has already gone "Pretty" and moved to New Pretty Town, where she can visit him only by sneaking there in the dead of night aboard her skateboard. But when Tally meets Shay, another 15-year-old girl, she is nearly talked into running away to join a legendary group of people who have dropped out of society in order to live free of its required operation and social stratification. Almost at the last minute, Tally does follow Shay and quickly finds that she feels comfortable with the people of the Smoke, as these dropouts call their home. And then the dominant society attacks. Carine Montbertrand reads this complicated and thought-provoking fable with energy. Not all of her voice selections for the main characters seem fitting, but the diversity of tone and accent aids listeners in keeping straight a large cast.--Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Horn Book Review

(Middle School, High School) In this first installment of Westerfeld's speculative-fiction trilogy (set in a regimented future society where all sixteen-year-olds undergo an operation that makes them both ""Pretty"" and unquestioningly compliant), Tally Youngblood finds herself outside the system: infiltrating an outlaw community and threatened with remaining ""Ugly"" forever unless she betrays her new friends. Narrator Montbertrand captures both Tally's vulnerability and her grit as the story -- full of action and adventure as well as provocative ideas -- unfolds. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

With a beginning and ending that pack hefty punches, this introduction to a dystopic future promises an exciting series. Tally is almost 16 and breathlessly eager: On her birthday, like everyone else, she'll undergo extensive surgery to become a Pretty. She's only known life as an Ugly (everyone's considered hideous before surgery), whereas after she "turns," she'll have the huge eyes, perfect skin, and new bone structure that biology and evolution have determined to be objectively beautiful. New Pretties party all day long. But when friend Shay escapes to join a possibly mythical band of outsiders avoiding surgery, Tally follows--not from choice but because the secret police force her. Tally inflicts betrayal after betrayal, which dominates the theme for the midsection; by the end, the nature of this dystopia is front and center and Tally--trying to set things right--takes a stunning leap of faith. Some heavy-handedness, but the awesome ending thrills with potential. (Science fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

/*Starred Review*/ Gr. 7-10. Fifteen-year-old Tally's eerily harmonious, postapocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birthdays, supposedly conferring equivalent evolutionary advantages to all. When a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on runaway teens, she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, a shadowy colony of refugees from the "tyranny of physical perfection." At first baffled and revolted by the rebels' choices, Tally eventually bonds with one of their leaders and begins to question the validity of institutionalized mutilation--especially as it becomes clear that the government's surgeons may be doing more than cosmetic nipping and tucking. Although the narrative's brisk pace is more successful in scenes of hover-boarding action than in convincingly developing Tally's key relationships, teens will sink their teeth into the provocative questions about invasive technology, image-obsessed society, and the ethical quandaries of a mole-turned-ally. These elements, along with the obvious connections to reality programs such as Miami Slice, will surely cause this ingenious series debut to cement Westerfeld's reputation for high-concept YA fiction that has wide appeal. Suggest M. T. Anderson's Feed (2002) and Westerfeld's own So Yesterday (2004) to readers antsy for the next installment. ((Reviewed March 15, 2005)) Copyright 2005 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2005 Booklist Reviews.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

In this launch title of a planned trilogy, teenager Tally Youngblood is living an unexamined life in a world unlike ours, hundreds of years from now. She's impatiently awaiting her birthday because in her town, Uglyville, everybody gets the same gift at age 16: cosmetic surgery which transforms them into gorgeous creatures. They also move into "party towers" in New Pretty Town. Tally's best friend has already made the transition and, motivated by her desire to see him, she sneaks into town. Her near-capture leads to a new best friend, Shay, who has the same birthday. On the eve of their operations, Shay reveals a plan to escape to a renegade settlement called "the Smoke." When Shay disappears, government agents blackmail Tally into leading them to the rebels. Once in the Smoke, Tally has a crisis of conscience when she learns the surgery is more sinister than she imagined. Teens will appreciate the gadgetry-including bungee jackets and hoverboards that work by magnetic levitation. But plausibility problems creep in, such as Tally leading a breakout of Smokeys from a high-tech compound while wearing handcuffs. As in his So Yesterday, Westerfeld introduces thought-provoking issues, but readers may lose track of the plot while sorting the many messages about how the "Rusties" nearly destroyed the planet. They may also feel cheated when, after 400-plus pages, the ending leaves loose ends to be tied up in the next installment, Pretties. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 6 Up-Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment of hoverboarding and risky pranks. But Shay also disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to defect with her to the Smoke, a distant settlement of simple-living conscientious objectors. Tally declines, yet when Shay is found missing by the authorities, Tally is coerced by the cruel Dr. Cable to find her and her compatriots-or remain forever "ugly." Tally's adventuresome spirit helps her locate Shay and the Smoke. It also attracts the eye of David, the aptly named youthful rebel leader to whose attentions Tally warms. However, she knows she is living a lie, for she is a spy who wears an eye-activated locator pendant that threatens to blow the rebels' cover. Ethical concerns will provide a good source of discussion as honesty, justice, and free will are all oppressed in this well-conceived dystopia. Characterization, which flirts so openly with the importance of teen self-concept, is strong, and although lengthy, the novel is highly readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies. Fortunately, the cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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