Title: Extras (Uglies)
Author: Scott Westerfield
Primary Audience/age group: Young Adult, 15+
Genre: Science Fiction
# Of pages: 448
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Year of Release: 2007
Part of a Series? Yes, 4 of 4
Rating: 3 (View Scale)
Recommend? Yes but with reservationsRead Reviews of Uglies (Book 1), Pretties (Book 2) and Specials (Book 3)Description: From Amazon: 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 s*ck 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.

Review: My preference is always for sequels that continue with the same characters that Ive grown to love. But, even with the new heroine, Aya, the story is still engaging. Westerfield gives you just enough of the same setting to draw you back into the story once again but continues the plot down a different path. Aya is living in the world that Tally left. Tally gave people a choice, yet the choices Aya seems to want to make are shallow at best. Aya has to learn for herself that the benefits of beauty and popularity arent always what they seem.

Rating: 3 for teenage alcohol use

Positive: All Aya seems to care about is fame, otherwise known as face rank in the book, but there are several opposing characters that allow her to see fame isnt everything.

Spiritual Elements: One mention of fate

Violence: The violence is very mild.

Language: No strong language other than the word cr*p used about 10 times.

Sexual Content: Three fairly mild kisses

Other: There are about three mentions of alcohol being present at parties, one in which Aya, who is 15, drinks a glass of champagne.

Aya lies in order to aid herself in becoming famous but reaps the consequences of her actions.

Recommendation: Again, my biggest concern is teenage alcohol use. Compared to books 2 (Pretties) and 3 (Specials), the alcohol use is fairly tame. And if youve allowed your child to read the other books, this one would certainly not be a problem. If underage drinking is a big concern with your teen, this series may not be the best choice. However, Extras is the tamest overall of the four book series.

Im not sure why I didnt mention these in the other reviews, maybe the themes really only hit me while reading this book. It seems as though the main female characters only change for the better once they are in a relationship with a young man. This may be something you would want to discuss with your daughter. Also, as with a lot of sci-fi books and movies, evolution is briefly mentioned in the books and is apart of the setting.