Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Westerfeld, Scott. (2005). Uglies. NY: Simon Pulse.
ISBN: 978-0689865381
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Survival, Betrayal, Secrets, Manipulation
Genre: Science Fiction
Awards/Honors: Golden Duck, Hal Clement Award for Young Adult (2006)
James Tiptree, Jr. Award Long List (2005)
New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2005)
VA Readers Choice Book (2008)
South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee (2007-2008)
Texas Lone Star Book (2006-2007)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2006)
Garden State Book Award (Teen Fiction Grades 6-8, 2008)
Ditmar Shortlist (Novel, 2006)
Florida Teens Read (2007-2008)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (Books That Don’t Make You Blush, 2006)
Iowa Teen Award Nominee (2007-2008)
Aurealis Award Finalist (YA Novel, 2005)
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2005)
Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2007)
Abraham Lincoln Award Winner (2007)
Prix Ado-Lisant (2009)
Annotation: Tally Youngblood can't wait for her 16th birthday so she can finally have surgery to be pretty like everyone else. But then she meets Shay, who doesn't want to be a pretty and runs away. Now the authorities want Tally to find and betray Shay before they will let her become a pretty.
Summary: In a future where everyone has surgery to become beautiful, Tally Youngblood is looking forward to her 16th birthday and to finally becoming a “pretty”. Then she meets Shay, also 16, who decides to stay an “ugly”. Shay ends up running away to live with other rebel uglies in a hidden encampment. Tally is disappointed to lose a friend, but remains eager to have her surgery and join her old friend Peris in New Pretty Town. However, authorities discover Tally’s connection to Shay and demand she follow her to the hidden town and betray her, and everyone else. While in the Rusty Ruins, Tally learns the truth about becoming a “pretty”, but what can she do?
Evaluation: I was really excited to read this book because I had heard SO MANY good things about it, and I love Science Fiction. Perhaps because of all the hype, it didn't quite live up to my expectations; however, the premise of Tally's story is very cool. Teens will relate to the desire to be beautiful and repelled by what is really going on.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

Pearson, Mary. (2008). The Adoration of Jenna Fox. NY: Henry Holt and Co.
ISBN: 978-0805076684
Awards: Andre Norton Award Finalist (2008)
Golden Kite Award (2009, honor recipient)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2009)
Locus Recommended Reading (Young Adult, 2008)
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2008)
Book Sense Summer Pick Teen Readers (2008)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Family, Fitting In, Medical Ethics, Survival, Car Accident
Genre: Science Fiction
Annotation: Seventeen year old Jenna Fox wakes up after spending 18 months in a comma. While she cannot remember anything of her early life, she is plagued by frightening flashes and slowly learns the truth of her existence.
Summary: Jenna Fox wakes up from a comma without any memories of her past. She is living in a broken down house in a small forested neighborhood with a mother and grandmother she doesn't recognize. Flashes of memories come to her as she watches video after video of her childhood-her parents way of helping her remember who she is. As the days go by, Jenna learns more about the mysterious accident that should have killed her and the lies her mother and father have been telling her.
Evaluation: I have to admit that I am a fan of science fiction and enjoyed this story quite a bit. Jenna puts things together pretty quickly without very much information, but this is easy to overlook. I love the weaving in of Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond; it gives the story another level of depth and emotional honesty.