Tally is faced with a difficult choice when her new friend Shay decides to risk life on the outside rather than submit to the forced operation that turns sixteen year old girls into gorgeous beauties, and realizes that there is a whole new side to the pretty world that she doesn't like.
The Belles are young women given powers by the Goddess of Beauty to keep the citizens of Orleans beautiful and free from turning back into red-eyed monsters, which is their natural state. Sixteen-year-old Camellia Beauregard is a Belle who desperately covets the role of Queen's favorite; but another Belle is chosen, and Camellia begins to question everything she knows about the Belles.
Contains black-and-white line drawings of over five hundred tattoo designs, arranged by theme, including fantasy, Celtic, floral, symbols, and wildlife.
Examines the culture of beauty and its effects on young people, looks at how perceptions of beauty have changed over time, and offers advice on how to sift through the messages that glorify beauty and learn to put them in perspective.
In the near future, women are genetically engineered and trained in special schools to serve as wives and maintain their beauty above all else. But sixteen-year-old Frieda refuses to adhere to the rules after she watches her best friend Isabel start to self-destruct.
The author relates, in graphic form, her experiences after she injured her two front teeth and had to have surgeries and wear embarrassing braces and headgear, all while also dealing with the trials and tribulations of middle school.
