First of all, this is a great series! I started Uglies and couldn't put it down. The teaser chapter at the end of the book for Pretties had me hooked-I was off to the library for the next books in the series!
Scott Westerfeld has created a dystopian futuristic society, where people undergo operations on their 16th birthdays to become "pretty." Tally is a few weeks from her birthday when the novel begins, and she can't wait to enter the pretty world. However, when she meets Shay, her whole world changes...
"We're not freaks, Tally. We're normal. We may not be gorgeous, but at least we're not hyped up Barbie dolls." Shay sheds light for Tally on an antiquated way of thinking. Shay realizes that the operation is just a way for the government to control the people, and she is all about challenging the status quo. Her influence on Tally leads them to the Smoke, a hideout community for people who ran away from the operation. Tally goes there to ultimately betray the location, but ends up becoming attached to it...in more ways than one.
While she's in the Smoke, Tally finds out the real reason for the operation, which is slightly terrifying. "Becoming pretty doesn't just change the way you look," she said.
"No," David said. "It changes the way you think."
Throughout the series, Tally is constantly caught up in a struggle. Whether it's with herself, Shay, David, Dr. Cable & the Specials, or the bubble-headed pretties, Tally's life is anything but average!
I think this series is excellent for adolescents. There are so many themes in it that teens can relate to. The stuff Tally goes through is common in most 16-year-olds' lives. She's trying to figure out who she is, and the adults and friends in her life are trying to make her into what they want her to be. The lessons she learns along the way are valuable: the meaning of friendship, the difference between right and wrong, and finding and defining one's identity. Assimilation is a theme that repeatedly shows itself as Tally must choose the path her life takes. Does she go along with what others want for her, or make her own decisions, destructive as they may be?
And so Tally works her way through the system, rebelling the whole way. If it's not refusing to be "prettified", she's making herself "icy" or breaking the boundaries of being Special. She also affects others, like Zane and the Crims, who think it's cool to rebel and form a clique. Her relationship with Shay goes through many ups and downs; they are a perfect example of the term "frienemies".
In Specials, Tally's actions and involvement in bucking the government's system finally catch up with her and blow up in her face. The revolution she caused has elevated to a whole new level, and very bad things happen to people she loves. In the end, she takes matters into her own hands. She realizes that someone has to do something about their mess of a society, and she is that someone. Taking responsibility for her actions is proof that she has come of age, and it is a great example for adolescents. Oh, and the hoverboards are pretty cool, too.
Uglies Series = Highly Recommended!
I started this graphic novel thinking to myself, "This just looks like another dumb teen comic book." ...how wrong I was! Yeah I hear you - never judge a book by its cover. Point taken.
At first, it appears to the reader that the novel is actually comprised of three seemingly disjoint tales. One about the monkey king of Flower Fruit Mountain, another about Jin Wang (American born Chinese), and a third about Danny, an all-American teenager.
However, the author weaves the three stories together at the end of the novel - quite profoundly, I might add.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. One of the themes I saw throughout the entire novel was peer acceptance and going to great lengths to change oneself for the sake of assimilation. The monkey king, embarrassed by the fact that he was a monkey, sets out to prove to the gods that he is indeed worthy of being included in their festivities. He forces himself to go through mastering the twelve major disciplines of Kung-fu, just to be accepted by the gods. Jin Wang spends most of his time trying to fit in. When he meets Wei-Chen Sun, he tells him (rather rudely) to speak English, even though it's really tough for Wei-Chen. Jin also changes his appearance to look less ethnic in order to get the attention of the girl he likes. Danny is completely disgusted by the behavior of his cousin, Chin-Kee, the "ultimate negative Chinese stereotype." Danny hates the attention he gets because of Chin-Kee and just wants to fit in with his peers.
The issues each of the main characters is having are extremely relevant to today's teens. Most adolescents just want to be socially accepted. They are worried about standing out and deathly afraid of having a negative spotlight put on them. I think Yang depicts this mindset very accurately in American Born Chinese. He does a great job of bringing a fresh perspective to the adolescent experience by digging into the inner struggles of a young Chinese-American boy.
One of the things that really stood out to me while reading was Danny's story. I laughed out loud when Chin-Kee made his flamboyant entrance, but soon I saw everything his character represents. I think many times, no matter how much we'd rather it not happen, stereotypes do cloud our vision when it comes to seeing people of other cultures for who they really are. I love the way Yang addresses stereotypes in his novel. Yes, there is quite a bit of humor involved, but the reader can see how much turmoil and pain stereotypes can cause. Even in the story of the monkey king, the gods made assumptions about the monkey king, and he ended up hurting himself trying to please them.
*SPOILER ALERT*
I'm going to talk about the ending now! And yes, this is one of those books where knowing the ending before you read the entire thing WILL spoil the entire experience of reading this great graphic novel!
The way Yang ties together all three stories at the end completely floored me. I saw the novel in a whole new light; everything made a lot more sense in retrospect. Danny and Chin-Kee are the American and Chinese cultures at war with each other inside Jin. "Danny," or the American side, is disgusted with "Chin-Kee," Jin's irrepressible, undeniable Chinese heritage. In the epic battle between Danny and Chin-Kee that follows, Chin-Kee soundly beats Danny. Well, that is, until Danny delivers a final decapitating blow that reveals the true character behind Chin-Kee - none other than the monkey king! Turns out that Wei-Chen, Jin's best friend, is actually the monkey king's son in human form. The monkey king is acting as Jin's conscience - coming to visit him as Chin-Kee to get him to see how good it is to just be yourself. The monkey king's final words to Jin are, "You know, Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years' imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey." Jin takes these words and slowly digests them...
This is a great message for adolescents. In the midst of the struggle between culture, peers, and self, there comes a time when one of the three ultimately wins. The question is, which one will it be? I think I'll go with the monkey on this one!
