Pretties

Westerfeld, Scott. Pretties. ISBN-10: 0689865398, ISBN-13: 9780689865392. Simon Pulse. 2005.

Summary
Tally is now a Pretty… finally. Her face, her body, her life are all perfect, but in the back recesses of her mind she feels like she is forgetting something. When a message from her past arrives, she is reminded about the ugliness that hides beneath the perfect life of a Pretty. Again, she is at the mercy of the Specials and has to be make some dangerous decisions about her future

Critical Evaluation
In the second book of The Uglies series, readers will be happy to meet up with Tally as she has finally become a Pretty and is living her perfect life to the hilt—hot boyfriend, lots of friends and the best parties. But when her Ugly past catches up with her and reminds her of why she questioned becoming a Pretty, the plot thickens because any change in her behavior would cause the Specials to pay attention and watch her closely. The Specials don't want her to know what she already knows, and they will do whatever it takes to "help" her forget. Readers of the Uglies and Pretties will be ready to delve into the third book in the series—The Specials—to see where the action-packed story goes from here.

Reader's Annotation
Now Tally is a Pretty, and enjoying the Pretty lifestyle. But she is going to come to remember that being a Pretty is ugly business, especially when the Specials get involved. The thrilling second book in the series will only get readers even more excited for the next book.

About the Author
Texas native, Scott Westerfeld, is the author of short stories, five adult novels, and four different series for young adults: The Midnighters, The Peeps, The Leviathan and The Uglies. The Midnighters is about a town where for one hour a day—at midnight, of course—very dark things occur. The science fiction author says that The Peeps series isn't actually a series, but three stand-alone titles (So Yesterday, Peeps and The Last Days) all set in present day New York and deal with vampires, parasites and consumerism. The Leviathan series (Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath) is Westerfeld's newest series and falls in the steampunk genre with an alternate version of the events from World War I. The Uglies series began as a trilogy but now has ended with four books (The Uglies, The Pretties, The Specials and The Extras) and an insider's guide (Bogus to Bubbly).

The author, who chooses to live in perpetual summer, splits his time in New York City and Australia with his wife, author Justine Larbalestier. Westerfeld was educated at the Arts Magnet High School in Dallas, TX, Vassar College for a degree in Philosophy and did some graduate work in Performance Studies at New York University. Prior to writing his own novels, he spent time as a factory worker, substitute teacher, textbook editor, software designer and ghost writer for other novelists.

Genre
Science Fiction
Friendship

Challenges
n/a

Curriculum Ties
Sociology: futuristic societies

Booktalking Ideas
You have everything, the perfect boy/girlfriend, popularity, a closet of awesome clothes to wear to all of the parties you go to, would you risk all of it to know the truth about what being a perfect person actually means…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
Like I said, I'm not a big fan of science fiction; but after reading The Uglies, I had to know what happened!!