Uglies

At the beginning of the school year I was asked to use class time to read a book of my choice. I had forgotten to bring a book from home, so I resorted to borrowing one of Ms. Healey's. This book would be a temporary read, I told myself. I would bring in one of my own books from home and everything would be okay. I chose at random and began to read the book Uglies by Scott Westerfield, and I am glad to admit it was a good choice. The opening chapter includes a girl who has waited her whole life to become pretty. In her world, a person turned into a "pretty" once they turned sixteen years old. Up until that point, a person who is under the age of sixteen is seen as an "ugly". This plot is very interesting to me because I believe this is a parallel idea. The younger generation of our society is so pure and not yet exposed to the materialistic things of the real world, such as appearances; but as we get older we begin to experience more of the real world and how false and judgmental society can be.  I am looking forward to reading further into the book and seeing how the characters react once they become "pretty".