Extras (The Uglies) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Rodrigo Corral (Designer)

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

Product Description

Fame

It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.

As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. But Aya doesn't care; she just wants to lie low with her drone, Moggle. And maybe kick a good story for herself.

Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416951172
• ISBN-13: 978-1416951179
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Gen of www.LibraryOfEden.com (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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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.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fame does matter, October 16, 2007

By	Miss Print (NYC) - See all my reviews

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.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, October 4, 2007

By	Chelsea Clarkson "Bookworm" (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews

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.