Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Uglies: Book 3
Audience: Middle School (some mature content)
Rating: A-
Synopsis:
Special Circumstances has always been a group that has terrified Tally and her friends. Most people don’t even believe they exist. But what if Tally is given no choice but to join their growing ranks? Tally finds herself with ‘special’ abilities and talents, but what will happen when her next assignment is to destroy the New Smoke?
Chatter:
(Spoiler Alerts! ) On page 48 Tally claims that “She had been made to save the world.” In some ways, this turns out to be true, but not in the way her ‘maker’ intended. Dr. Cable is such a devious person! She starts creates the Cutters knowing that the new brain lesions will make them emotionally unstable and disconnected with other humans. She also knowingly starts a war against innocent Diego. Yet, throughout all this, Dr. Cable truly believes she is doing the right thing and that her city is best way of life.
Part of the reason that I think Zane is a better match for Tally is that she remembers him… In Pretties, after Tally had been re-wired, she forgot about David and had a hard time remembering her feelings for him. In Specials, Tally isn’t supposed to miss Zane, she’s not supposed to care for him anymore, but she does anyway.
Then, I was furious at Tally for her reaction to Zane. She was even more critical of him than she was when she first saw David after becoming a Pretty… the main difference is that this time she regretted the change whereas with David she wondered what the attraction was. And doesn’t Zane just break your heart? His stubborn insistence that Tally is still good, and his belief in her is so touching. In the end, it’s really his death that allows Tally to save herself. But I still wish there had been an opportunity for them to say good-bye.
The power dynamic between Shay and Tally switches again in this book. I wonder what it feels like for Tally to call Shay “boss”?
Questions:
Why do you think Dr. Cable saved Tally?
What new problems do you think Diego will face?
If Tally and Zane could have one more conversation, what would they say?
Do you agree with Tally and David’s decision to stay in the wild?
Keep reading!
-Paige
Amy Says:
I thought it was pretty hypocritical of Dr. Cable to start a war with Diego when all along the city has said that one of the things that makes them so much better than the Rusties was that there was no war. It seems to just accentuate the point that Dr. Cable is willing to go to any measure to keep the city under her control.
I have actually been a fan of David throughout the books moreso than Zane. It’s not that I don’t like Zane- I like his resolve to break out of the system and he never really loses his faith in Tally’s ability to fight the brain lesions. But I don’t think that David loses his faith in Tally either, which is especially apparent when she finds him waiting for her near the end of the book in the ruins and he continues to wait for her when she goes back to confess to Dr. Cable. And I also think there is a difference in how Tally views them both- she may have found David to be ugly when she first met him but I feel like she was becoming attracted to him back when she was in the Smoke. And then in this book when she meets him in the ruins after being in Diego, she doesn’t find him so unattractive even though he’s still an “ugly.” In contrast, she found herself repulsed by Zane’s appearance throughout this book, so much so that she had to run away from him.