Sunday, October 23, 2016

Module 8 - Uglies

Book Summary
In a world where everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous, Tally Youngblood is all set to have her pretty surgery on her 16th birthday. When Shay, her friend tells her of a secret town where Tally can find the truth about becoming pretty, her future becomes unclear. In the end, special circumstances change Tally’s life forever.
Reference

Westerfeld, S. (2005). Uglies. New York. Simon Pulse.

Impressions:

The book challenged the concept of beauty, when uniformity in appearance limits independence, is at cost. Westerfeld is a little over descriptive and some of the side character stories slow the book down. The science fiction is really cool, and I think that's where Westerfeld shines. Privacy, beauty, and cosmetic surgery are all social issues addressed in the book. The book is a little long and could be reduced. I'm not necessarily eager to continue reading the series, only because these novels seem a little formulaic and the ending was sequel-driven.

Professional Review:

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.

Hunter, S. W., Jones, T. E., Toth, L., Charnizon, M., Grabarek, D., & Raben, D. (2005). Uglies. School    Library Journal51(3), 221.

Library Uses:

The Uglies series is a wonderful book club suggestion. The book centralizes around themes of identity, freedom, technology and modernization; sure to provoke thought amongst any teenage book club. Librarians that use this dystopian series as part of a book club should be able to create debate and discussion about society and class, and have students empathize or demonize characters in the book.