Uglies

I just finished the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld...fantastic story! It's given me so much to think about. When I started the first book, I had some revealing discussions with my family including my 8- and 3-year old kids about our ideas of beauty and its power. I love the way a good book can nudge you into examining every-day things you either take for granted or just don't actively think about. This series did that for me, just as The Hunger Games did. They both encouraged me to consider the society I live in and the implications of our ways. It's easy to say, "our society does this," and "they do that," and to complain about the parts we don't like, but it is quite striking to look at how we play into those practices on a daily basis--even with the simple inaction of not standing up for change, we support the 'norm.'

As I read these books, it was fun to imagine where I would've fallen in the social order of the Pretties. Sometimes I thought I'd absolutely be like the protagonist, Tally, who maintained the integrity of her character through repeated surgical alterations to her brain, designed to influence her personality to suit the desires of the government doctors. At other times, though, I could easily see myself as one of the sheep who just followed everyone else and never bothered to question what had come to be know as 'normal' practice (those were not good days for me!). I like to think I would have made it out to The Smoke (the wilderness) and learned to appreciate true nature, including it's human designs...

So what am I going to do differently as a result of reading these books?

Well, I think this story is about standing up for what you believe in as much as it's about joining forces to protect our planet. One thing I know for sure is that I will continue to talk with my kids about what they're noticing in the world around them, to teach them to analyze and develop their own thoughts about what they see, and to decide what is worth their energy to preserve, or to change. For my own part, I am going to cultivate a stronger resolve, so that when I notice myself going-with-the-flow just to avoid conflict--or because I haven't yet decided where I stand on an issue--I stop myself long enough to consider the options and make a conscious decision. That seems like a good place to start.