I am simply a twelve year old in middle school, but twelve years is still quite a long

time. With the short time and experience I have, there are many different themes and things that you can easily relate to the real world in the book Uglies.

One of my personal connections is finding your identity. I’ve gone through many

different times in my life- even as a twelve year old- trying to find who I truly am, and I won't be able to for a while. Tally, in Uglies, she struggles with finding her side and her place in the world- should she betray David and Shay? Throughout the rest of the books in the series, she becomes more confident and secure in what she does. That’s what most humans go through, especially now, because social media and technology influence teenagers' views of a normal body. As they grow older, they realize that everybody is different. People mature at different rates- it took Tally a while to realize that becoming a Pretty isn’t everything that matters, and she finally realizes that there are things other than going to crazy parties and living a wonderful life.

Tally struggles with identity- becoming a pretty or choosing friendship-and the

technology makes it harder for her. The villains in Uglies have unlimited technology at their disposal, including hovercars, skin-tennas, and much more. Becoming Pretty is the norm. It's unehard of for someone not to have the surgery. She sincerely wants to succumb to the peer pressure, but Shay shows her a whole new world. Nowadays, with so much going on, it's hard for people simply to focus on one thing, like seeing the beauty in everything, or something more logistical like the economy. We have to worry about politics and then financial problems like college, and then we have to worry about our health- including mental health. It might be easier to get help, but with romanticizing mental illnesses and self diagnosis left and right, technology and the media has certainly made it worse. How are we supposed to find our "inner self" when we're burdened with responsibility and problems?

These problems are not all tangible. They include mental health and body

positivity. In Uglies, teenagers reaching puberty are told that they are ugly and are encouraged to call one another out on their flaws. Everybody struggles with self-esteem at one point or another in the real world, and the book Uglies touches on it. Many of my friends have created an image in their mind of a "perfect body." They'll talk about how unfit they are, or how they need to watch their weight. The media has made it hard for kids to appreciate their body and focus on being happy. New technology has forced teenagers to grow up faster, to become mature adults. 

These modern inventions may have progressed our time period a lot, but we must

stop to think about the consequences and what it will do to the next generation. Dystopian novels are warning us about these things that could happen, and it is up to us to heed the advice.