Uglies
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 1st edition cover |
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| Author | Scott Westerfeld |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Uglies Trilogy |
| Genre(s) | Young adult |
| Publisher | Simon Pulse |
| Released | August 5, 2004 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-316-70129-7 |
| Followed by | Pretties |
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Uglies is the first book in a series about Tally Youngblood, written by Scott Westerfeld. In this futuristic novel, Tally Youngblood is living in a utopian future where the main government turns people into "pretties" after turning sixteen years old. Tally befriends a girl named Shay. Later, Shay decides she doesn't want to become pretty, and so runs away to the Smoke, a literal camping ground for fugitives. Tally is told by the authorities that if she does not retrieve Shay, Tally will never become pretty. After staying at the Smoke for some weeks, she learns that the operation that turns people into pretties, actually plants a lesion that damages the brain, and causes the pretties to think differently. Shay and almost all the Smokies get captured by Specials, which are "cruel pretties". Tally and the head of the Smoke, David, manage to free Shay and other members of the Smoke, but Shay has been turned pretty. David's mother and father have been working on a cure for the lesions, but when they get captured the Specials try to erase all knowledge of the lesions from Davids father's brain, and the treatment ends up killing him. David's mother finally finds a cure for the lesions, but is not sure what will happen if someone takes them, and Shay refuses to be a test subject. Tally says she will go to the officials, get turned pretty, and then she will take the pills, and see if they work. Uglies is followed by the books Pretties and Specials.
[edit] Major characters
- Tally Youngblood
- The protagonist of the book.
- Shay
- Tally's dark-haired friend, who leads her to the Smoke and helps her see that she isn't ugly.
- David
- A boy who has lived his whole life in the Smoke. He and Tally fall in love, much to the dismay of Shay.
- Dr. Cable
- The cruel pretty, or special, who forces Tally to follow Shay into the wild.
[edit] Minor characters
- Maddy and Az
- David's parents, and the founders of the Smoke.
- Sol and Elli
- Tally's parents - middle pretties who live in the suburbs.
- Peris
- Tally's best friend, who is three months older. He lives in New Pretty Town from the beginning of the book, and is one of the many pretties who has undergone the pretty operation
- Croy
- One of Shay's old friends. An ugly who lives in the Smoke
