Scott Westerfeld

I just finished So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld, which I found intriguing. I have read two other trilogies/series that he authored, that I will discuss later on in this post. What I would like to pose to all of you, before I begin reviewing Westerfeld's books that I have read, is doing an author investigation. Think about an author that has multiple books out, one that you enjoy, and read what you can by him or her. Then, after you have finished, continue your thoughts into what you might be able to infer about the writer from the text you just read. I have done this before, but after finishing So Yesterday, which is frankly very different from all of Westerfeld's novels I have read, I feel like I know some things that he would agree are important to him. I almost get a better idea of an overall 'so what' after reading all of these books, instead of looking at just one. I'm not going to blab what I think it is- that's for some of you to discover on your own.

Uglies Triology + Extras (a companion book): These books focus on Tally, a girl eagerly awaiting her sixteenth birthday. Not so unusual, you might think. When you discover that Tally lives in a futureworld, and sixteen means you change from being an Ugly (what we would consider normal) to a Pretty-all through an operation provided by the governement. Being Pretty leads to being bubbly; partying, having fun, and not caring about anyone. After meeting Shae, a rebel Ugly who introduces her to people known as The Smoke, Tally starts to reconsider. She's always wanted to be Pretty, but is it all that it cracks up to be? What is the sinister secret behind being Pretty, and what choice does Tally really have? The Uglies triology will pull you into a world of the future, one that you may not want to envision. You'll find you can't escape-just like Tally.

The Midnighters: Jessica Day arrives in the small, sleepy town of Bixby, Oklahoma not expecting much. What she discovers freezes her in her steps- well, actually it freezes everyone around her. At midnight, Jessica discovers that time, and everything and every person around her, freezes for an hour. Every person except those that call themselves The Midnighters. During this secret hour, Jessica discovers new things about her and her group of friends. She also realizes that she is the focus of other things that wake up only during this secret hour- dark and sinister things who want her. The question is not just why, but what will they go to in order to get her?

So Yesterday: Hunter Braque lives in New York City and has an unusual job, one for only the elite. He finds the Innovators, the ones who start the fads, the ones on the cutting edge of cool, for the retail market. Hunter's life is overall cool, but then his boss disappears and he must use his hunting skills, as well as his new found friendship with Jen, to find her.