Tween Lit: My New BFF

After my last read, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, I was afraid to return to historical fiction.  So, I went to the library and checked out the second book in the "Uglies" quartet: Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld. 

I read the first book, Uglies, earlier this summer, but became occupied with other reads following.  So I let my hold for Pretties at the library expire.  However, I just couldn't get the story out of my head...and I wanted to know what happened with the characters.  All it took was two days (yeah, I got involved) to complete the book.  And now?  Yeah, I have myself on the library list for the next book: Specials.

The "Uglies" quartet transports the reader to a dystopic future society where physical perfectionism is key.  This idea of a dystopic future is also present in my other favorite author: Shirley Jackson (to whom I own most of her novels and short stories). 

Tally Youngblood is an Ugly obsessively waiting her 16th Birthday, which will bring the much anticipated Pretty operation.  However, just days before her surgery, Tally gets a new roommate: Shay.  Shay does not want to be Pretty and runs away to the Rusty Ruins to find the Smokeys: those who have not had the operation and matured beyond their 16th Birthday as Uglies.  When Tally is picked up for her surgery and sent on a mission from the Specials to retrieve Shay, a journey to knowledge begins.

Pretties starts where Uglies leaves off, and I don't want to give too much away.  Lets just say that Tally is back in the City and she must leave again to regain a more "bubbly" brain and not the "pretty" one that is clouding her thoughts.

These books are not high literature, but captivating all the same.  Scott Westerfeld truly takes you on a suspenseful journey with believable characters and what could happen in our beauty-focused society.  Westerfeld also is very cleaver with how he illustrates situations.  For instance, he never has the characters swear, but rather says, "Tally swore."  It allows his wonderful sci-fi story to be shared with a tween audience, since there isn't worry about adult language or situations (i.e. there is heavy kissing, but no sexual encounters).  Even though there is an absence of language and mature content, I was still sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would come next.

I definitely recommend this book for a tween, teen, and adult audience looking to be swept away for a few days!