Duckling Ugly by Neal Shusterman

Everyone knows the story of the ugly duckling who turns into a beautiful swan. Well Shusterman takes this story and puts his own twist on the tale. Cara De Fido is the ugliest person in Flock's Rest. She is so ugly that mirrors break whenever she looks into them. Even though she is really smart and her family loves her, it is her ugliness that everyone sees. Then one day she receives a note with 3 words on it: find the answers. A few weeks later the most poplar guy in school, Marshall Astor, asks her to the homecoming dance and she agrees to go. Toward the end of the dance Cara kisses Marshall, and he is so disgusted that Cara runs away from the dance. She then runs down the road and lies down behind one of her fathers car dealership signs. She wakes up in a beautiful place where she is accepted even though she is ugly. After a few weeks she is taken to the Cauldron of Life by Aaron, where she sheds her ugliness and becomes beautiful. About two weeks after her unveiling Cara decides to return to her old life to say good-bye to her family. She is warned that if she returns things will not be the same as the were, and beauty has its price.

Tom Burnham 4/7/06