Uglies

2005 Westerfeld, Scott [David] (b. 1963). Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse. Merril

First volume of a series originally called the Uglies trilogy, but a fourth volume was added. The first volume describes a technological eutopia in which everyone can become beautiful at age sixteen is an authoritarian dystopia. In the second volume, Pretties. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005, a girl who becomes beautiful discovers that what she thought would be eutopia is not. In the third volume, Specials. New York: Simon Pulse. U.K. ed. London: Simon & Schuster, 2006, the main character becomes part of the group controlling the Uglies and keeping the Pretties stupid. The fourth volume, Extras. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007, includes the arrival of aliens, but the focus is on the role of celebrity in the future society. See also the graphic novels by Scott Westerfeld and Devin Grayson. Uglies: Cutters. Illus. Steven Cunningham. New York: Ballantine Books, 2012; and Uglies: Shay’s Story. Illus. Steven Cunningham. New York: Ballantine Books, 2012. A series of four volumes set in the same world as the Uglies series began with Impostors. New York: Scholastic Press, 2018, which describes one of the dystopian cities that emerges after the revolution in the Uglies series. The second volume, Shatter City. New York: Scholastic Press, 2019, is set in a city in which people use implants to control their emotions. The third volume, Mirror’s Edge. New York: Scholastic Press, 2021, follows one of the characters, a rebel, of the previous novels when she returns to her home city and the problems that ensue. The ending sets up a connection to the preceding Uglies series for the next volume. The author was born in the U.S. and lives in the U.S. and Australia.