Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

In three months, Tally will become pretty. In her world, everyone is an “ugly” until they turn 16 and are officially transformed into a “pretty” through surgery. It’s supposed to be the best time of Tally’s life, but things change when she meets Shay. Shay raises questions that are forbidden. Why can’t society accept them for who they are? Are they really freaks if they remain uglies? Why does everyone have to look the same? Although Tally is shaken by her encounter with Shay, she still looks forward to her chance to join the pretties. But now it is not clear if her chance will ever come. She is given orders to spy on Shay after she runs away to the Smoke – a secret place where everyone lives together in freedom, where there are no uglies and no pretties. Struggling with her future and what is right, Tally learns that what she finds in the Smoke may actually change things for good.

http://www.scottwesterfeld.com/ Cara Woudenberg