Reviews

Gr 9 Up-Teenage troublemaker Tally Youngblood and her friends are back in this fast-paced sequel (Simon Pulse, 2005) to Scott Westerfeld's Uglies (Simon Pulse, 2005). Now herself a Pretty, Tally finds that life as a vapid partygoer in a barely functional dystopian society doesn't hold the attraction she thought it would. When one of the Uglies delivers a message along with two mysterious pills that promise to "cure" the lesions that were implanted along with her cosmetic enhancements, Tally splits the pills with her new boyfriend and they both begin to come out from the mind-numbing fog that has surrounded them for so long. Her best friend's jealousy along with a risky plan to save the other Pretties soon have Tally and her friends hoverboarding for their lives. Carine Montbertrand's disaffected, adenoidal, and flat voice is a perfect match for Tally's post-Valley girl mentality and actions at the beginning of the story. Then, as Tally changes, so does the vocal tone and quality of the narrator. Will Tally succeed in regaining her individuality and maintaining her independence? Just as with the first book in the trilogy, the ending will have listeners hurrying to their libraries and bookstores for Specials (Simon Pulse, 2006), the final volume of this futuristic trilogy.-Cindy Lombardo, Tuscarawas County Public Library, New Philadelphia, OH Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.