Uglies (Uglies Trilogy #1) by Scott Westerfeld

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. Simon Pulse, 2005. 448 pages. ISBN-10: 0689865384. ISBN-13: 978-0689865381.

Plot:

Tally is an Ugly. She hasn’t yet reached her 16th birthday where she will undergo the surgery that will transform her to a Pretty and allow her to live in New Pretty Town where she can spend all her time partying with the rest of the new Pretties. Missing her best friend Peris, who has already become a Pretty, she sneaks over to New Pretty Town to see him. While there she is almost caught, but is helped by another Ugly named Shay. Tally and Shay become friends. Shay reveals that she doesn’t want to become a Pretty and is planning on running away instead. After Shay disappears, Tally still plans to become a Pretty, but on the day of her birthday she is taken to meet Dr. Gable, the head of Special Circumstances, the city’s security force. Dr. Gable informs Tally that she must find Shay and lead Special Circumstances to the colony of runaways where Shay is living or she’ll never be allowed to become a Pretty. Tally agrees and sets off to the colony, know as The Smoke. When she arrives, she begins to enjoy the freedom of The Smoke and decides to stay instead of revealing where they are. She also falls in love with a boy who was born there, named David. What Tally doesn’t know is that Dr. Gable expected her to betray her mission and has a way of tracking her anyway.

Critical Evaluation:

On the surface, Uglies is a dystopian post-scarcity science-fiction thriller. Looking deeper, however, the entire novel is a metaphor for the confusion inherent in adolescence when torn between desires for individuality and the need to conform, as well as the fear of growing up. Teenagers will appreciate Tally’s predicament. She desperately wants to join Peris and the other Pretties in New Pretty Town, but as she learns more about the Uglies living in the Smoke and discovers life outside of the city, she is drawn to that lifestyle. However, the Smoke simply represents another type of conformity. Tally has to learn to reconcile what she wants with the demands of those around her, which is something that every individual must go through as part of growing up.

Westerfeld creates a dazzling world with his descriptions of New Pretty Town. The technology he creates is fascinating and fun. Who wouldn’t want a hoverboard? He manages to make being a Pretty sounds incredibly appealing, which makes it all the more horrifying when it’s revealed what happens during the transformation.

The novel is an exercise in suspense. The reader is never sure what is around the next corner or who is an enemy. Just as one problem is resolved, something else is introduced. The characters’ motivations are often hard to read as it seems like even the most innocent often have some kind of agenda. We spend most of the novel watching Tally’s world fall apart around her as she learns that it’s a very different place than she thought it was. She remains a strong character throughout. When the novel ends, the reader will be anxious to find out what happens to her next.

Reader's Annotation:

Tally has always look forward to her 16th birthday when she will become a Pretty. When Tally's new friend Shay declares that she plans to run away instead, Tally must decide if she should become a Pretty or follow Shay.

Author Information:

Scott Westerfeld was born May 5, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. His father was a computer programmer, so Westerfeld and his family traveled a lot when he was a kid. He lived in Texas, California, and Connecticut. He attended a magnet school for arts in Dallas. He earned a bachelors in Philosophy from Vassar and did graduate work in Performance Studies at New York University. He is married to the Australian author Justine Larbalestier. The two divide their time between Australia and New York, specifically to avoid winter in either hemisphere.

Before becoming a novelist, he worked as a ghost writer and music writer. His first novels were adult science fiction, but he transitioned to writing for young adults with his book So Yesterday in 2004. He has also published non-fiction, short stories, poetry, and several essays.

Genre:

Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties:

Science: Care of the Environment
Health: Body Image
Sociology: Community

Booktalking Ideas:

• Talk about the anticipation of becoming a Pretty.
• Compare Tally and Shay.
• Explain some of the technology they use in the book.

Reading Level/Interest Age:

13 and older

Challenge Issues:

Allusions to alcohol use
Negative body image issues
Anti-family
Anti-government

Challenge Defense Ideas:

• Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
• If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
• Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
• Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.

Reasons for Selection:

This book was recommended to me by a teenage friend of my sister. It's popular with her group of friends.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. Candlewick, 2003. 256 pages. ISBN-10: 0763619582. ISBN-13: 978-0763619589.


Plot:

Virginia has never really felt like she fits in with the rest of her perfect family. They are all dark-haired, slim, attractive, and brilliant. She is blond, plain, and terrible at French. She’s also overweight, which she and her family think is the worst difference of all. Self-conscious about her size, she hides in baggy clothes and withdraws from everyone at the school. Since her best friend moved to Washington, that means that Virginia doesn’t have any friends left in her school. She does, however, have a secret boy, Froggy. Though she and Froggy spend every Monday making out in her room, she follows her “Fat Girl Code of Conduct” and avoids him in public, thinking that he wouldn’t want to be seen with her. In order to be worthy of Froggy and her family, Virginia decides she must lose weight and begins a diet that makes her unhealthy and miserable.

When Virginia’s older brother, whom she idolizes, is suspended from school after being accused of date raping a girl, she starts to realize that maybe her family isn’t so perfect after all. She begins to branch out and start to accept her differences. Instead of trying to be perfect, she decides to try to be an individual. Though this causes some strain in her family, Virginia believes that it is worth it to become her own person.

Critical Evaluation:

Mackler manages the difficult task of writing a narrator who is insecure and unhappy with herself, but who isn’t whiny or self-pitying. Virginia is humorous, likable, and sympathetic. She’s sarcastic and self-deprecating, but she’s also vulnerable. Her journey towards accepting herself while at the same time improving herself in a healthy way is an admirable example for readers. She isn’t an unrealistic example, however. She makes many mistakes along the way, she hurts people, and she hurts herself, but she learns and she accepts her faults. By the end of the book, her life isn’t perfect, but it’s promising.

Mackler’s writing maintains a conversational style, but without stylistically delving into too many sentence fragments or grammatical errors. The result of this is a book written in the voice of a bright teenager, one that both teenagers and adults can enjoy. Mackler doesn’t shy away from sensitive material. She addresses the body image issue with honesty. Her inclusion of the date rape and her focus on how it affects Virginia’s family dynamic is a bold choice. Their reactions to the rape are defining moments for each of the characters, particularly Virginia, as it is the catalyst for changing the way she views herself and her family in relation to each other.

This is a book that offers both an entertaining storyline and good message. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who was struggling to find their place in their family, no matter the reason.

Reader's Annotation:

Virginia has never felt like she really fits in with her slim, beautiful, and talented family, so she sets out to change that. Along the way, she learns to accept herself as she is.

Author Information:

Carolyn Mackler was born July 13, 1973 in Manhattan. Her family relocated several times, but eventually settled in Brockport, New York. Many of her novels are set in the areas of New York where she lived. She was interested in writing from an early age and even started a newspaper at the age of four. She would dictate her stories to her mother, who would then write them down. She attended Vassar and earned an Art History degree. After graduating, she moved to Seattle, but soon returned to New York. She currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and son.

Much of her inspiration for her characters comes from her own experience as a teenager. In 5th grade, Mackler began to feel like a misfit and an outsider in her school. Things did eventually get better for her, but the experience stuck with her. Many of her characters are misfits looking for their place, like she was. She has published five books for young adults.

Genre:

Chick Lit

Curriculum Ties:

Psychology: Body Image and Self Acceptance

Booktalking Ideas:

• Discuss feeling different from your family
• Introduce Virginia in the style of one of her lists.
• Talk about learning to accept yourself.

Reading Level/Interest Age:

14 and older

Challenge Issues:

Date rape
Sexual content
Anti-family
Unsuited to age group

Challenge Defense Ideas:

• Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
• If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
• Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
• Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.

Reasons for Selection:

It has an important message of self-acceptance that hasn't been lost on teenagers, given the number of letters the author has received on the subject.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. Viking Juvenile, 2009. 288 pages. ISBN-10: 067001110X. ISBN-13: 978-0670011100.

Plot:

Lia and Cassie had been best friends since childhood. They shared everything, including a pact to be the skinniest girls in school. After a Lia spends time in the hospital for her eating disorder, Cassie decides to drop her for being a bad influence. They hadn’t talked in months the night that Cassie called Lia 33 times and then died alone in a hotel.

Cassie has been living with her father and claiming to have her disorder under control, but she is a pro at hiding it. The only person who seems able to get through to her is her step-sister, but even she can’t save Lia from herself. Lia is haunted by her guilt about what happened and begins seeing Cassie’s ghost everywhere. Cassie wants Lia to join her, to waste away to nothing until they can be together forever. As she loses more and more weight and her sanity begins to slip, Lia wonders if maybe she should join Cassie after all.

Critical Evaluation:

Laurie Halse Anderson manages to depict the physical and emotional decline associated with a severe eating disorder in a chillingly realistic way. Though Lia is lying to those around her, and even to herself, the reader is spared nothing in the description of her downward spiral. This is a difficult book to read for the same reason that it is an admirable one - it’s honest.

Lia is an unreliable narrator, but in a way that works for the story. It’s difficult to tell when she is being honest or when she is evading the truth. It’s also sometimes difficult to determine which events are actually occurring and which are part of her mental breakdown. This coupled with the sometimes unusual and increasingly erratic writing style that is employed only enhances the portrayal of a girl quickly slipping out of control.

The plot could potentially trigger a reader who is suffering from the same disorders; however, it could also help readers feel less alone in their problems or encourage them to seek help before they reach the same state that Lia is in.

Reader's Annotation:

After her best friend Cassie’s sudden death, 18-year-old Lia spirals downward as she struggles to deal with Cassie’s death and her own problems with anorexia.

Author Information:

Laurie Halse Anderson was born October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York. She began writing in second grade and has loved it ever since. She attended Georgetown University and received a B.S. in linguistics. After graduating, she worked as a freelance reporter for several years, while working on her fiction writing. In 1998 she became a full-time writer of fiction. She has published 9 books for young adults and 20 books for children.

Though writing was one of her first loves, she also enjoys running, gardening, travel, knitting, and quilting. She lives in Northern New York with her husband and children. Noticing that she was suffering from several distractions, her husband built her a cottage in the woods to be hers to use for her writing. She views this as her answer to the claim of Virginia Woolf that every woman needs a room of her own to write fiction.

Genre:

Realistic Fiction: Eating Disorder

Curriculum Ties:

Health: Healthy Eating
Psychology: Eating Disorders, Depression, Cutting, Grief
English: Character Development

Booktalking Ideas:

• Read the passage starting "Dead girl walking" placed on page 19 of the e-book version.
  
• Discuss Lia and Cassie's friendship.
• Focus on Lia's relationship with her family.

Reading Level/Interest Age:

14 and older

Challenge Issues:

Anorexia
Cutting
Could be a trigger

Challenge Defense Ideas:

• Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
• If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
• Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
• Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.

Reasons for Selection:

This book was recommended to me by my sister. Extreme dieting and disordered eating is something that affects many teenagers including my group of friends when I was in school.