Who wrote Scott Westerfeld’s young-adult dystopian novel Uglies?

Scott Westerfeld wrote the young-adult dystopian novel Uglies.

Published in 2005, Uglies begins a series about a future society in which everyone receives extensive cosmetic surgery at age sixteen. Before the operation, teenagers are called “Uglies”; afterward, they become “Pretties” and live in a more socially privileged environment.

The protagonist, Tally Youngblood, initially looks forward to becoming a Pretty. Her understanding changes after she meets Shay and learns about the consequences of the operation, including the ways it can affect independent thought and social conformity. The novel therefore uses beauty standards as an entry point into questions about power and control.

Uglies is sometimes confused with Westerfeld’s Leviathan series, which is steampunk science fiction rather than a dystopian series about compulsory cosmetic transformation. The first Uglies book led to Pretties, Specials, and later related novels.