One of my favorite books is Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. In Uglies, there are two cities that live separately. One city is where the Prettys live, and another city is where the Uglies live. The government makes everyone believe they were born ugly. The concept of "natural beauty" does not exist in this society. But once a person reaches the age of 18, the government makes them pretty. The main character, Tally Youngblood, is extremely excited to turn 18—until she finds out the cost of turning pretty. (That is all I will say because I do not want to ruin anything!)

The thing I love about this book is Tally Youngblood. In the beginning, she does not accept herself as who she is. She believes she is ugly. Even when her friends call her beautiful, she just laughs and criticizes herself. For Tally, it is such a natural thing to criticize herself, and she does not understand how wrong it is to criticize yourself. But as the book progresses, she learns how to love herself and sees her true beauty. She learns that being pretty is not about looks. It is about who you are.

To me, this book is sort of comforting. The story is not about a 17-year-old girl running around having an adventure. Rather, it talks about accepting yourself and knowing what true beauty is. Although sometimes the description is plain, Scott Westerfeld made the book very well. I would recommend this book.

Review by: Lauren

Lauren is a teen volunteer at the Granada Hills Branch Library who is a senior in high school from the San Fernando Valley area.

—Rachael Zak, Young Adult Librarian, Granada Hills Branch Library