Scott Westerfeld
Scott writes science fiction novels for adults and young adults. He lives half the year in America and the other half in Australia – thus avoiding winter completely.
He has been a ghost writer and would share with us the famous people he has written for, but if he did….according to his website…..“then I would have to kill you!”.
On a lighter note he used to write contemporary dance music. He has a great imagination fuelled by the stories in the press. His novels bring alive his own take on the future of planet earth.
Scott has written three sets of books for young adults which are detailed below.
Scott’s characters use words in an original way, so the reader is deftly introduced to a different language – American/English with a whole new vocabulary. His novels grab you from the very first line.
The first line of the first book of Uglies is unique…
“The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit”…don’t you want to read more?
The first lines of the rest of the series are:-
Pretties
“Getting dressed was always the hardest part of the afternoon”…why?
Specials
“The six hoverboards slipped among the trees with the lightning grace of playing cards thrown flat and spinning”…what’s a hoverboard?
Extras
“Moggle,” Aya whispered. “You awake?”…who or what is Moggle?
His next book Bogus to Bubbly comes out 21 October 2008 and will answer some of the questions raised by his first lines.
Bogus to Bubbly is a behind the scenes look at how Uglies was conceived, researched, written and produced. Information includes; maps (of Tally’s city and the greater continent), a massive history of the world (including Rusty Crash and recovery), illustrations of gadgets from the books, a glossary and an essay on slang generation. There is also a hoverboard manual! Don’t miss it.
More information about his other books can be found on his website (external link), his blog is brilliant.
Title:Midnighters
Category:Teenage Fiction
ISBN No.:9783440110546
Published:2008
The series features five teenagers born on the stroke of midnight. At midnight time stops for them and they face a dark and hidden world.
Title:Uglies
Category:Teenage Fiction
ISBN No.:9781416911043
Published:2006
Originally a trilogy, but somewhere in the great scheme of things the trilogy has evolved into a series of four. Set in the future, where cosmetic surgery is compulsory when you turn 16, Uglies portrays a perfect life in a high-tec paradise where your only dilemma is how to have fun. Tally’s new friend Shay doesn’t want this operation so she becomes an outcast. Tally secretly visits the outcasts and discovers a frightening image of how our towns and cities have decayed. She eventually has to make a choice about becoming Pretty. Read the book to discover what happens to Tally, Shay and David.
Title:Pretties
Category:Teenage Fiction
ISBN No.:9781416917298
Published:2006
Tally has finally become pretty, but beneath the non-stop fun, lie hints of some sinister control. Tally’s past catches up with her and she is reminded why she became pretty and why she should be doing something about the threat to her real world. Circumstances lead Tally to sabotage her current life and expose her friends, the authorities won’t let anyone with special information survive.
Title:Specials
Category:Teenage Fiction
ISBN No.:9781416917281
Published:2006
This is the third book of the series and we see Tally become a superhuman fighting machine, developed to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. One small part of her remembers being something less perfect, with more soul. She faces yet another dilemma, to extinguish her forgotten friends in the New Smoke or help them survive.
Title:Extras
Category:Teenage Fiction
ISBN No.:9781847381262
Published:2008
This is the last book in the Uglies series and the language is challenging, especially when Aya, the main character has to try and speak “English” – our own language which has now evolved over the centuries into bogus and bubbly speak. She introduces us to a wealth of new people inhabiting her life – tech-heads, kickers (who spread gossip & trends), and surge monkeys – hooked on extreme plastic surgery. In extras you are only as popular as your last piece of gossip. With popularity comes the riches of security, privacy and extraordinary living quarters. Aya uncovers a secret “kick” and feeds it into the popular “press”, making her one of the most popular people on the planet. But her secret exposes more than she imagines and her life is under threat. Read on to discover her future.