Extras (The Uglies) [Paperback]

Scott Westerfeld (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 3, 2011 | Series: The Uglies

Extras, the final book in the Uglies series, is set a couple of years after the “mind-rain,” a few earth-shattering months in which the whole world woke up. The cure has spread from city to city, and the pretty regime that kept humanity in a state of bubbleheadedness has ended. Boundless human creativity, new technologies, and old dangers have been unleashed upon the world. Culture is splintering, the cities becoming radically different from each other as each makes its own way into this strange and unpredictable future . . .

One of the features of the new world is that everyone has a "feed," which is basically their own blog/myspace/tv channel. The ratings of your feed (combined with how much the city interface overhears people talking about you) determines your social status--so everyone knows at all times how famous they are.

As Scott Westerfeld explored the themes of extreme beauty in the first three Uglies books, now he takes on the world's obsession with fame and popularity. And how anyone can be an instant celebrity.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This fourth entry in the Uglies series will keep Westerfeld’s “face rank,” to borrow his own invented slang, significantly above anonymous. Several years after the massive paradigm shift of Specials (2005), 15-year-old Asa Fuse investigates an urgent news story in hopes of boosting her public name recognition—of crucial importance in the celebrity-based system that has replaced Prettytime’s cult of boring, brainless beauty. Asa draws the attention of the story’s possibly dangerous subjects as well as that of Tally Youngblood, now a legendary figure. As usual, Westerfeld excels at creating a futuristic pop culture that feels thrillingly plausible; for instance, the “reputation economy” of Asa’s Japanese city, based on citizens’ blog traffic, cleverly pulls in real-world phenomena from Google rankings to reality TV’s populist celebrities. Too many subsidiary characters and difficult-to-follow action sequences plague the plot’s resolution, but such problems are unlikely to faze followers of this hot-ticket series, who will expect smart world building and rich themes—and will find both in spades. Grades 7-10. --Jennifer Mattson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Scott Westerfeld‘s other teen books include the Midnighters series, Peeps, So Yesterday, and The Last Days. He divides his summers between Sydney, Australia, and New York City.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (May 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442419784
• ISBN-13: 978-1442419780
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Westerfeld's teen novels include the Uglies series, the Midnighters trilogy, The Last Days, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the sequel to Peeps. Scott was born in Texas, and alternates summers between Sydney, Australia, and New York City.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#33 in Books > Teens

#33 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED this fourth in the "trilogy"! November 8, 2007

By Gen of North Coast Gardening TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I thought the series was finished when Tally Youngblood ended the prettytime and spurred on the changes that allowed everyone to think independently again. But I enjoyed the trilogy so much that I was more than ready for another look into the world.

A few years after Tally and The Cutters brought the mind-rain and ended prettytime, Aya Fuse is a normal ugly teen, too young for the optional brain, face, and body surge(ry) that most people choose to have, and too unimportant to do anything exciting.

Her city uses a reputation economy, based on face-rank - the people who are the most important, well-known, and interesting get to do and have the most exciting things. Everyone has their own feed in an attempt to gain a higher face-rank, and Aya's greatest hope for fame is as a kicker, someone who finds and reports on the best stories in their world.

When she meets a group of dare-devil girls who aim to stay unknown, she knows that kicking their story is her chance to make her name. But when they all find some mysterious things in a nearby mountain, the story becomes bigger than Aya could have imagined - big enough to involve the person with the biggest face-rank - Tally Youngblood.

Like all of Westerfeld's books, this one swiftly takes you into a world so different and yet so realistic that you can't help but feel a bit disoriented when you finally set the book down. This was an excellent and enjoyable read, and I hope Westerfeld will write more in this series.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite from the Uglies universe October 16, 2007

By Miss Print VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Extras is the fourth book in Scott Westerfeld's critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling series (originally it was a trilogy). The first three books Uglies, Pretties, and Specials follow Tally Youngblood, a fifteen-year-old girl living in a futuristic world so dominated by plastic surgery that anyone who looks normal is ugly. Extras is set three years after the events of the trilogy unfold, in a different city, with different main characters. The trilogy, however, sets the framework for everything that happens in Extras so while the book is great on its own it definitely assumes you know the story of the trilogy.

In this new world, where everything is changing, being pretty isn't enough to get by. Now it's fame that matters. The more famous you are, the higher your face rank is. A higher rank means more currency in a world where celebrity is everything.

Everyone is trying to get more attention somehow: "tech-heads" are obsessed with gadgets, "surge monkeys" are hooked on the newest trends in plastic surgery, and "kickers" use feeds (think blogs but techier and cooler because it's a Westerfeld idea) to spread the word on all the gossip and trends worth mentioning. But staying famous is a lot easier than getting famous. Just ask Aya Fuse. Fifteen-year-old Aya has had her own feed for a year, but her rank is still 451,369--so low that she's a definite nobody, someone her city calls an extra.

Aya has a plan to up her rank though. All she needs is a really big story to kick. Aya finds the perfect story when she meets the Sly Girls, a clique pulling crazy tricks in utter obscurity. As Aya follows her story she realizes it's much bigger than one clique: maybe the biggest story since Tally Youngblood changed everything....

Some sequels that bring in all new characters are annoying. Not this one. All of the "new" characters are original and, equally important, likable. The story is also utterly original covering very different territory than the rest of the series. It doesn't pick up right where the trilogy left off, but a lot of questions are answered by the end of this book.

Like the other books in the series, this one moves fast. The story has a lot of action and several twists and surprises (some old characters even turn up). The plot is never overly-confusing though. Westerfeld does a great job of creating (and explaining) the futuristic world he has created in these pages so that it truly comes to life on the page.

At the same time, Extras is a very timely book. In a world where everyone seems to have some kind of website and is trying to be more popular or more famous, it's fascinating to read about a city where everything literally depends on your reputation. Westerfeld raises a lot of interesting questions as Aya deals with the ethics of kicking her new story and tries to decide if honesty really is more important than fame. Read more ›

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome October 4, 2007

By Chelsea Clarkson

Format:Hardcover

This book was amazing!! I was a little hesitant when I heard it wasn't about Tally, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. The characters are well written and likable. You find yourself falling into the story, and you cannot put it down until you turn that final page. The end left me yearning for more and I really hope he writes another.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Another patented Westerfeld Ending.... March 12, 2008

By Keary C. McHugh

Format:Hardcover

I first read Uglies for my YA lit class, and I loved it. I loved it so much that I went on to read Pretties, and then Specials. And it was after I finished reading Specials that I began to notice a trend, a trend that Extras continues: Westfeld cannot write a decent ending.

Extras begins in an exciting fashion. The world has become completely individualized since Tally brought down the Pretty system. Aya is a teenage Japanese girl who is completely unfamous in a city that runs on fame. Desperate to become famous, she follows what she thinks will be a story about a group of adventerous girls and discovers instead a potentially deadly secret. And the book just goes down hill from there.

Like Pretties and Specials, Extras begins in a fast-paced, mysterious fashion that completely hooks you in with all of the tantalizing possibilities it offers. And then it slips into a luke-warm middle and concludes in an ending that is not only uninteresting, but completely anti-climatic. I was left with a "Is that all there is?" feeling, a feeling that I have come to realize is typical of a patented Westfeld ending.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite of the series October 3, 2007

By StaceyK

Format:Hardcover

I was lucky enough to get to read an advance copy of this book (and meet the author) this past weekend. I loved the book! I think it's my favorite of the series, mainly because it relates so clearly to our culture's desire for fame. But I think the world-building is fantastic in all of the books and I was excited to return to that world for this fourth visit. I also enjoyed getting a perspective other than Tally's as well as seeing Tally from someone else's eyes. Aya is terrific, young and prone to making mistakes but trying to do the right thing. : ) A commendable heroine!