Book Review: Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras
Those are the titles of Scott Westerfeld's New York Times best-selling series. It started out as a trilogy - all of the first three books even say "trilogy" on their covers. But then he wrote a fourth. Quick funny story about that: My dad and I were going to Border's and he says, "Do you think there's going to be another book in that Uglies series you like?" And I said, "No, Dad, it's a trilogy." Then we stepped foot into Border's and I cam face to face with a giant poster announcing Westerfeld's fourth book, Extras. Great timing. haha.
Anyways, the series takes place in the future. Humanity as we know it has be wiped out and a new way of life has appeared. Instead of having classes based on wealth, stereotypes, and beauty, everyone becomes Pretty at age 16. That's right, on your 16th birthday you go in for the Operation: they give you new skin, puff up your lips, and make you all around pretty based on the decisions of the Pretty Committee, the group of officials who decide what Pretty means and how far you can go with the operation. So basically, the series follows the story of a girl named Tally. Uglies starts about two months before Tally's 16th birthday and all she wants is to be Pretty. But her whole life gets messed with and twisted around as she learns the real secrets to being Pretty, and that sometimes, the people in charge need to have someone stand in their way.
Extras, the fourth book in the series, is written from a girl named Aya's point of view, and to her Tally is mostly a legend. But Aya goes through just as many adventures as Tally and gets to meet the legend along the way.
These books are really well written and full of amazing ideas. Westerfeld has come up with a stunningly creative story line. The whole series is hard to put down and you will have to fight the temptation to read under the covers with a flashlight at night. I highly recommend this series to anyone.