Pretties by Scott Westerfeld is a fun teen science fiction book. In an alternate reality Tally has under gone the surgery from Ugly to Pretty. Unlike our reality this surgery not only changes Tally's physical appearance but her thoughts and memories as well. Before Tally was an ugly child running around in the forest, now she is a beautiful young lady with the world at her feet. Upon becoming a pretty Tally is moved into New Pretty Town where she parties and drinks with all the other pretties.
It is at one of the lavish Pretty Parties that Tally's life changes. She joins a secret pretty society called the Crims with the handsome Zane, and then finds out she is being followed. With the help of Zane, Tally finds out her stalker is Croy, an old friend from her Ugly days. This information confuses Tally,as she begins to realize she cant remember her old life. Its like her head is filled with this fuzzy cloud that distorts all her memories. Croy wont tell Tally his secret but instead makes her risk her own life and Zane's to find it at the top of dangerous tower. In the tower Tally finds a letter from herself as an Ugly. This letter urges her to not trust New Pretty Town because she and all her friends are in grave danger. In the process of acquiring this letter Tally also grabs the attention of the New Pretty Town authorities. From that point on Tally is forced to wear a bracelet that records everything she says and gives away her location. With the guards of New Pretty Town watching her every move, Tally is forced do every thing in code. Also Tally has discovered that starvation is the key to clearing up the fog around her memories. As Tally slowly starts to remember her past, she discovers that the only way to save her friends is to brake out of pretty town. Both Zane and Tally put their lives on the line to brake out, only to be captured by the Specials.
The Specials then takes over Tally's tale as the third installment of the Uglies Series.
I never read the first book in this series, however this book explained everything really well so I wasn't lost. I would highly recommend this book for middle school girls and boys. It does have the young romance but there is also a lot of action that will appeal to all tastes! This book does contain "made up" vocabulary, so that is something I would discuss with my students in a lesson. I would ask questions like what do you think a purger pill is? What relations does this word have with the vocabulary we know? This book is great for a classroom setting because the language used is "teen slang". I think students will really enjoy ready a book that reads like they talk. As a class we could then talk about different forms of slang vocabulary and how it relates to age and location. Over all its an easy read with clean classroom appropriate slang- language (slanguage?).
I liked the way you described this book! As kids in junior high are growing and changing, they may experience a similar transition from their childhood, "ugly" days, to becoming pretty and gathering a new group of friends. I think it can show them that being pretty and popular isn't everything, because the older we get, the more we have to sacrifice in order to maintain the looks and popularity. I think it can also help them to see that they are a part of a system, too. It is definitely an interesting concept for a book, and one I will be adding to my classroom library.
ReplyDeleteI'm typically not a fan of Science Fiction but I can see merit in this novel. I would be a little nervous about the plastic surgery used to make Tally into a pretty. It would be important to inform students that beauty is within them no matter their outside appearance. Students should decide for themselves whether Tally was happier or a better person when she was an ugly or a pretty. All in all, I think this could bring up some good discussion about how the media pushes us to be perfect. Great post!
ReplyDeleteTricia,
ReplyDeleteI really think that this book could be a great addition to a classroom library. There is little that it can offer a curriculum that I can see though. There is many benefits to this such as it being a book that students can relate to and especially helping them read more. If they are interested in reading the books they will become a better reader just by building their vocabulary and developing their reading comprehension and speed. I loved hearing about this book great choice!
Amanda
I've read this book before and I really enjoyed it. I don't know if it would be good for a classroom though just because I don't see much content in it other than entertainment and possibly building a vocabulary or getting a student interested in reading. You had a great book talk about it and a good synopsis in your post. I would like to read it just for the entertainment value. Good choice.
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