The List Changes Everything

In high school there are the "hot" girls and the "not-so-hot" girls, but no one writes it down on paper. It is not something out in the open for everyone to see. In Siobhan Vivian's The List, those girls are labeled ugliest and hottest girl for each class, and the label will change them forever.


Every year the List comes out. There is an ugliest girl and a hottest girl in each grade. No one knows who makes the lists or how the official (stolen) school seal that marks the official list gets passed down from year to year, but they accept the list as a part of their high school lives. This year is no different from previous years for most people, but it is a life-changer for the 8 girls on the list. One has been on the list all 4 years of her high school career... as the ugliest girl in her grade. One only makes the list after her anorexia slims her down. One embraces her Ugly status by writing UGLY across her forehead and refusing to shower for the whole week leading up to the Homecoming game.


But one thing is for certain: the list affects every single girl it names. And while you might think it would help the lives of the Hottest girls, you would be miserably wrong. Being named Hottest only makes your friends jealous and guys think they have a right to hit on you or think you are a trophy to be won. Being on the list tests every relationship you have ever had, your values, and worst of all, what you think of yourself. The List has changed these girls... but you won't believe how.


This was a deceptively awesome book, I must say. I assumed it would be rife with cliches and stereotypes and full of pink plush morals and "typical", but it really wasn't. Instead, it surprised me. Time and time again, what happened to these girls REALLY surprised me. I thought I knew what was going to happen to the Ugly girls vs. the Hot girls, but I found myself flipping the pages time and time again with that "What the heck?!" shocked look on my face. It was a really refreshing read! But at the same time, it was a frighteningly accurate reveal into the world of high school culture. We, as adults, sit on the outside of the true happenings of our schools, and although we have lived through it, we have also outgrown it, making our opinions jaded. I mean, can you honestly remember what it felt like to live through high school? I can honestly say I have tried somewhat (un)successfully to block it from my mind, but every now and then I see something going on where I teach and all those memories come rushing back. 


This would be an excellent book for any high school aged girl through adult trying to understand the lives and roles of teenagers these days. And to try and pretend judgment and criticism are not a part of adolescence is simply ridiculous. Sometimes we, as adults, just need to immerse ourselves in their world, even through a story like this one, to see the truth of what they live through every day. It might make you a little more sympathetic as you give them detention or scold them for not finishing their work. We see the world through our adult eyes, but we forget that as teenagers, we didn't even know who we were at that point. Vivian did a great job with this story explaining the lives of teenagers and I am sure all adolescents would find at least one character to relate to. Even if they don't want to admit it!

How Far Would You Go to be Pretty?

I am a fan of post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels and often find myself searching for the next enthralling story. While searching through lists of PA books, I happened across the Uglies, a YA novel by Scott Westerfeld. I had seen this series before and was interested, but I had just never picked it up. Now that I knew it was about a dystopia, I was dying to read it!

Uglies starts in a city where a kid's 16th birthday is a big event- it is when a kid undergoes their surgery to become Pretty. Everyone wants to become Pretty so they can live in New Pretty Town, party all day, not worry about responsibilities and revel in their new Pretty selves. Well, maybe not everyone. Tally Youngblood misses her friend Peris who turned 16 and became Pretty months before she did. But now she has met a new friend, Shay, who teaches her to perfect her hoverboard riding, takes her to the Rusty Ruins (where they see our ancient cities as they deteriorate and mock our ravenous consumption of the world), and tells Tally of a place where kids go to escape the surgery- a place called the Smoke that is full of Uglies who fend for themselves and stay far away form the cities.

When Shay runs away, the Specials (Cruel Pretties) tell Tally she must find Shay and lead the Specials to the Smoke or she won't get her surgery. Desperate to become Pretty and join Peris, Tally goes to the Smoke, but she doesn't find what she expected. The Smoke is a place where everyone works for their fair share, people are free from the petty lives of Pretties, and the Specials aren't watching their every move. Tally must make up her mind: should she betray David and the Smoke or remain in the one place where she finally felt alive and free?

I have to say this novel was a little slow for me in the very beginning. All the descriptions of Tally and Pretty Town were interesting, but by no means gripping. The story didn't really pick up until half-way through when tally sets off for the Smoke. By this point, I was certainly hooked! The story does go quite quickly, and the premise is so interesting- a society where everyone is made to look the same in order to prevent racism and prejudice, but is really a ruse for the government to keep society "malleable". When the truth comes out, however, that the surgery changes their personality as much as their appearance, it is a fate worse than staying Ugly. I recommend this series for a kid who enjoyed Hunger Games. The language isn't overly mature or complex, the plot is very interesting, and it should grab a hold of any reader. Give it a chance and prepare to ask yourself which you'd rather be: a mindless Pretty or a Free-willed Ugly!