Uglies Part I
Part I: Turning Pretty
Chapter 1: New Pretty Town
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What are some details that suggest a time setting for this story? 4
What time setting is being suggested by these details?
Who is Peris? 4
What two towns does the river divide? 6
How does a pretty’s “magic” make uglies feel? 8
What kind of mask does Tally wear? 10
Chapter 2: Best Friends Forever
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How does the person falling from the tower not die? 11
How did Peris change from an ugly into a pretty? 13
What is one of the functions of Tally’s interface ring? 15
What are some of the features that make someone pretty? 16
What is Tally’s plan for escaping Garbo Mansion? 19
“What was worse in New Pretty Town, she wondered? Your mansion burning down, or an ugly crashing your
party?” What does Tally’s question tell us about how pretties think?
Chapter 3: Shay
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Why are there sirens going off at the beginning of this chapter? 21, 24
Why did Peris have a scar that matched Tally’s? 25
Why doesn’t Peris have his scar anymore? 25
How might Peris’s scar be a symbol for the relationship between uglies and pretties?
What are some parts of the operation to make people pretty? 25
Would you have this operation done?
How many levels of being pretty do you definitely know about? 26
How many levels of being pretty do you guess there are? Why?
What is the allusion on page 28 a reference to?
Why is Shay in New Pretty Town? 29
How did Shay get to New Pretty Town? 30
Chapter 4: Wipe Out
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How do the crash bracelets keep Tally from hurting herself when she falls? 33
What is Tally’s ugly nickname? 36
What surprising information does Shay share with Tally? 37
According to Tally, why don’t their pretty friends visit Tally & Shay? 38
What was Peris’s nickname? 38
What is Shay’s nickname? 36
Chapter 5: Facing the Future
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How many morphos does Shay have? 40
What does “symmetry” mean? 42
What is a morpho? 39-44
On page 44, Shay says, “Everyone judged everyone else on their appearance. People who were taller
got better jobs, and people even voted for some politicians just because they weren’t quite as ugly as
everybody else.” This is information from an actual study of real people from 2004. Do you agree with
Tally that making everyone the same level of pretty will help get rid of this problem?
5. What is Shay’s opinion about becoming pretty? Use details from both Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 to
support your answer.
6. In modern America, advertisements in magazines and on TV feature beautiful people to help make
products sell better. How might this relate to Shay’s thoughts about making morphos?
Chapter 6: Pretty Boring
1. To where does Shay want to make a night trip? 48
2. Do you agree that “being required to have fun” is boring? Explain your answer.
3. What are two topics Tally doesn’t know about? 51, 52
Chapter 7: Rapids
1. Based on the description of the pretty operation on page 50, do you think this is something you would
do? Use details from the book to support your answer.
2. On pages 53 and 54, Tally notices that it’s almost like the dorms are purposely designed to allow uglies
to sneak out. What might be a reason for the government to purposely allow the uglies to sneak out?
3. How come Shay and Tally’s hoverboards won’t tell on them when they go out at night? 54
4. Shay thinks Peris told Tally to not take risks for what reason? 55
5. What makes hoverboards hover? 58
6. What happens if your hoverboard leaves a safe operating area? 59
7. How can the hoverboards work on the river? 60
Chapter 8: The Rusty Ruins
1. Based on the details from the story, who were the Rusties? 61-63
2. Do you agree with Shay that the “trick” she played on Tally by not telling her about the gap in the
rollercoaster was a good trick? Explain your answer.
3. Explain the process that allowed some uglies to discover the rollercoaster. 67
Chapter 9: Waiting for David
1. Who is David? 71
2. Is David real? 73
3. Explain what Tally means when she thinks, “Being in the city all the time made everything fake, in a way”
(74).
Chapter 10: Fight
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According to Tally, at what age do you become an ugly? 77
What is the prank Shay and Tally play on the new uglies? 79-80
Why did Tally and Shay wear disguises? 79
Why is swimming a “great trick” (81)?
Do you agree with Shay or Tally in their argument on pages 82-84?
Chapter 11: Last Trick
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Do you think 15 year-olds should be allowed to get plastic surgery? Explain your answer.
What is the “last trick” Shay wants to perform? 89
What is the name of the place David lives? 91
On page 92, Shay and Tally debate over what it would mean if everyone was ugly; Shay says that would
mean no one is ugly, but Tally thinks that means no one is pretty. Who is right?
5. At what age does the pretty operation no longer work? 93
Chapter 12: Operation
1. After reading the description of the operation on page 97, do you think the pretties are still
human? Explain your answer.
2. Why do you think that the place where late pretties live is called “Crumblyville”?
3. How do most middle pretties make Tally feel? 98-99, 101
Chapter 13: Special Circumstances
1. What are these new middle pretties like? 103, 104
2. Why are people’s eyes getting flashed? 98, 100, 103
3. What does the fact that Tally has always called everyone, even adults, by their first names tell us about
her society? 104
4. What is the purpose of “Special Circumstances”? 106-107
5. Why would the Special Circumstances building be “designed to make its occupants vaguely nauseated”
(103)?
6. What your opinion about the structure and functions of the city is as described on pages 106-107?
7. Look back at Chapter 7: “Rapids”, especially the second study guide question. How does Special
Circumstances seem to decide whether or not an ugly is clever? 108
Chapter 14: Ugly for Life
1. Why might Tally find it important to realize that “Special Circumstances could make mistakes” (113)?
2. Who are Ellie and Sol? 114
3. What is their advice to Tally? 115-119
Chapter 15: Peris
1. What does “bubbly” mean? 124
2. What does “bogus” mean? 124
3. “Rationalize” means “to come up with a reason to do something you want to, even though you know
you shouldn’t do it”. How does Tally rationalize breaking her promise to Shay?
4. The sun has risen, and Peris says “It’s almost past my bedtime” (127). What does that tell us about how
pretties live?
Chapter 16: Infiltrator
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Do you agree with Dr. Cable when she says, “We always have choices” (129)?
What does Dr. Cable expect Tally to do? 132-133
How is Special Circumstances going to find Tally when she gets to the Smoke? 134
What finally convinces Tally to infiltrate the Smoke? 135