Okay, I'll be honest; I was a little hesitant about a book with the title of Uglies. Despite being warned throughout life that you should not judge books by their cover, I still fall victim to my judgment, though in my defense, I wasn't judging the cover, just the title. One of your peers said they had read it and enjoyed it, though, so I gave Uglies a shot: Scott Westerfeld describes a world where everyone is born ugly. Faces are disproportional, bodies are too big or too skinny, and tempers flare (there are bad attitudes). But this only lasts for so long; when you turn sixteen, you undergo a surgery that makes you pretty. Not just pretty: gorgeous. People actually stop to gawk at you as you walk past kind of pretty.
This idea kind of scared me, as we do live in a country where so much of what people see in us or believe about us is based on appearance. Should it be? No, but this goes back to the old adage of judging books and covers and what not. But I read on any way to see what kind of commentary Westerfeld was trying to make. The book made for an interesting story line. Though being pretty and having all the best clothes and technology sounds awesome to most, some of the uglies are trying to find a way to escape; they don't want to be the government's best version of themselves, they want to actually be who they are. Tally, our main character, desperately wants to be pretty, but due to new friends she has made and their "tricks" (or rule breaking), her surgery is delayed. It ends up being a good thing, though, because Tally learns an awful lot about herself; she is far more brave and selfless than she realized, and being ugly seems to no longer be so horrible. She has resigned herself to forsake the pretty world until, surprise, in order to save her friends, once again, and humanity in general really, Tally not only has to become pretty, but also remember what she believed in when she was an ugly. This is really difficult, as when you get your pretty surgery, the doctors also alter your brain, removing your "ugly thoughts" that might make you rebellious or argumentative. Basically, they try to brainwash you. Pretties, the sequel, is about Tally trying to remember who she was and trying to keep her promise to help her friends. But it isn't easy. You guys know how irritated I am that all books are becoming series, but it says a lot that I needed to know what was going to happen so badly I have already read the first two. I plan to start the third, Specials, tonight. We have all of these books in our library...just saying:).
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Note From Ms. PIt will probably come as no surprise that I am an avid reader. I have also been spending a lot of time in the Dawn Hodges Library here at WAAS evaluating what books we can add to have students really READING. Some of you already read on your own, which is great because reading opens your mind to new ideas and possibilities you might not otherwise think of. It helps you to imagine and live in a new world for a little while, which is something we all need sometimes. Archives
February 2019
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