Pretties, Uglies and Specials

This trilogy of books by Scott Westerfeld is set in a future where everybody has surgery to make them beautiful when they are 16. Almost everyone, that is. There is an underground movement of teens who want to live outside the cities and remain ugly (people between the ages of 10 and 16 are called uglies). It is Tally’s greatest wish to become pretty and go live in pretty town where she can party all the time. But her new friend Shay wants to join the rebels out in the wilderness.

The trilogy takes us through a few months in Tally’s life – where she lives as an ugly, is recruited as a spy to infiltrate an underground group, becomes a pretty, has mind-altering surgery and experiences, and finally, has additional surgery to make her a “special”, a member of the super-strong group with bodies like weapons that polices the city and makes sure everyone follows the rules. In the process she learns about her city and how it controls its citizens, and a lot about herself.

Who is the real Tally Youngblood, and what does she want?