Tally Youngblood has been awaiting her sixteenth birthday for what seems like forever. In Tally's world, turning sixteen is the most exciting day of a person's life. This is not because one gets their driver's license, but for an even more provocative reason. When one turns sixteen, they are given a special operation which makes everyone extremely beautiful and launches them into a high-tech paradise where they can have everything they want, whenever they want it. Tally meets a girl, though, who is not excited about the operation, and when this girl runs away the day before Tally's sixteenth birthday, Tally is faced with the horrible decision of betraying her friend or never becoming pretty. As Tally searches for her friend, she is catapulted into a new society where the operation never is performed, and where “uglies” (as the people are called before the operation), can find safety in escaping the operation. At first, Tally has no idea why someone would ever want to avoid the operation, but as the story progresses, Tally learns that there are effects from having the operation, and they're not pretty.

These books, by Scott Westerfeld, follow the adventures of Tally Youngblood 200-300 years into the future, as she attempts to learn the truth about her society and its many problems. These exciting novels have a little something for everyone,
including adventure, excitement, and best of all, hoverboard chases!

The first three novels in this series are centered around Tally Youngblood, but the fourth book, Extras, which was recently released in October, is set in a world a few years after Tally's story. The main character, Aya Fuse, does end up meeting Tally, though, and Tally is in more than half of the story.

Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras, are books I recommend to anyone who loves adventure, science fiction, futuristic stories, or just superior writing. Scott Westerfeld has written ingenious stories, with believable characters, great plots, and interesting messages. These New York Times bestsellers are compelling stories that I would recommend for all to read.