The Pretty One by Cheryl Klam

From the Publisher

All Megan Fletcher had wanted was to be like her sister Lucy: a beautiful, thin girl whom everyone at the Chesapeake School for Performing Arts worshipped and adored. While Lucy was a star actress with lots of fans, Megan had always been hiding behind the set designs that she and her best friend Simon had created, hoping that no one would notice her.
And then one day, life as Megan knew it had changed forever. Megan was
in an accident that disfigured her face and plastic surgeons had to
restructure it very carefully. Only no one would have thought that when
the bandages came off, Megan would be even more beautiful than Lucy . . .


From the Trade Paperback edition.

School Library Journal

Gr 9-11

Megan, 16, and her older sister, Lucy, attend the Chesapeake School of the Arts in Baltimore. Lucy is the beautiful and talented school darling, majoring in drama. Megan is a techie, one of the unattractive nerds majoring in set design. She has lived in her sister's shadow, but their relationship has always been loving, with Lucy supportive of her younger sibling. Then, on the night of the school's fall festival, Megan overhears Lucy making negative comments about her looks and overstuffed dress. Overwhelmed with feelings of betrayal, anger, and grief, she runs out of the building, stopping only when she is hit by an oncoming car. Months later, the bandages come off and she is well enough to return to school-as one of the beautiful people. Reconstructive surgery has given her a face more stunning than Lucy's and has wrought more changes in her life than she thought possible. Her secret wishes are coming true, but at what price? The constant attention and focus on her beauty is confusing to her, and she's no longer sure of who she is or what she wants. The protagonist has a strong voice and is a good role model for teens who think that life is easier if you're the pretty one.-Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL

Kirkus Reviews

Whoever said being pretty was easy? Chunky, buck-toothed Megan has always played second best to her sexy, slender sister Lucy both in life and in the theater world: Megan designs the sets, and Lucy steals the show onstage. That all changes, however, when Megan's hit by a car and spends the next eight months recuperating. The following school year, she's fully transformed from bombed-out to bombshell thanks to plastic surgery, weight loss, bone grafts and dental work. Soon she's starring in the school play, and the boys that used to chase her sister now chase her. Cue scenes of unwanted attention and nasty sibling rivalry, which all cause Megan to wonder if she's suddenly popular because of her mind or her new body. Her voice and emotions ring true but lack depth, and readers may find her too flaky and whiney to wade through nearly 300 pages. The sibling rivalry barely dips beneath the surface, and what's left is an after-schoolish screaming match between the two sisters over boys, clothes and dates. Typically tepid chick-lit fare. (Fiction. YA)

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