What if all of the problems facing humanity could be overcome just by making everybody beautiful? This is the question posed by Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. They are the story of the world 300 years in the future, when after modern society was destroyed by genetically engineered oil eating bacteria, mankind built a new society where everybody is made "pretty" on their 16th birthday. After this operation, they get tolive a carefree life with no responsibilities.

The story follows a girl named Tally who is looking forward to her 16th birthday and the operation. However, her new friend Shay isn't excited at all about it. When Shay runs off into the wild, The government gives Tally an ultimatum; find where Shay ran off to, or never turn pretty.This series is surprisingly well-written, especially for something aimed at teenagers. The setting is well fleshed out and feels believable. Although the books at first glance don't look particularily interesting, once you start reading them you'll be hooked. There are a lot of interesting gadgets such as hoverboards, which the books go into some detail about how they work. I would wholeheartedly recommened this series to this class.