Pretties

The novel Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (2005) is the sequel to the book Uglies (Westerfeld, 2005). It is a compelling novel about a young girl living in a futuristic society. In this society everyone must turn “pretty” at the age of sixteen. There is an operation and a board of doctors who decide what everyone will look like. Although each person looks a little differently, there is a standard height, weight, and skin tone that everyone receives. Eyesight is made perfect and teeth remarkable. The reason behind this transformation is to end discrimination and judgments based on appearances. However in the meantime, everyone looks the same and each person’s life is laid out for them. The only choices a person can make are what pretty clothes to wear, which pretty party to go to, and which pretty person to befriend. That is the typical life of a pretty in this type of society.