American Author Proposal

Raymond Lui
B Block
Scott Westerfeld is an American author. He was born on May 5th, 1963 in Texas. He writes fantasy stories, usually about the future or about magical powers. I was drawn to his books because my sister kept telling me how good his book Uglies was and so I read it. I was hooked and I really liked how creative he could be. Also his writing style was pretty cool too. He really brought out the main character, like how Toni Morrison wrote Song of Solomon. You could feel how the protagonist was feeling, almost experience it, all because of the special writing style that few can master. Also his overall storylines and plots get me.

Well since Scott was born in Texas of the USA, them Texas are probably the most American of all Americans. Also George Bush is the American president, and he's from Texas so that means those in Texas are truly American. But Scott was raised in Connecticut and California, another two very American states with California being the definition of America to most foreigners and Connecticut was one of the first American states. He is also a writer, for both adults and young adults, with over 13 books under his belt, with 2 more coming in the near future. Out of the 13 books, 2 of them are trilogies that have been highly praised and reviewed, and another 2 have been also praised.

The Uglies trilogy has been considered one of the most important books of the 21st century. With plastic surgery running wild, Uglies plays a story in which plastic surgery becomes the definition of everything in the future. Plastic surgery makes everyone look beautiful, making everyone alike. True with everyone beautiful there would be less jealousy in the world, but then it also takes away the idea of individuality. This book has been regarded as the stepping stone to accept how you look like, and play down the uses of plastic surgery.

With just the Uglies trilogy, a 10 page report comparing plastic surgery and the plotline wouldn't be too hard. But adding in his other books, including Midnighters, and Peeps, I believe there is enough interesting topics to write about. Also the life of the author himself and his point of view on the topics he wrote about can also be added to show a contrast between his writings and his own personal feelings.

Well, I've read the Uglies trilogy, but I plan on re-reading it anyways just for kicks. I plan to read Peeps and it's parallel sequel The Last Days. They are both 200 pages each and so I plan to read the Midnighters trilogy too. They average around 200 pages each, but the more books I read the easier it will be to write the report. I plan to read Peeps first, and finish it in hopefully a two days, then begin The Last Days and finish that in 2-3 days depending on how interesting it is. Then I rest for a couple of days and begin on the Midnighters. The first one will take around 3 days and finish each one within a couple of days. Then I'll read the Uglies again.

Scott Westerfeld is an excellent author and hopefully after this assignment, I’ll have a better perspective of both what does it mean to be an American and how Scott Westerfeld is an American and how his books have influenced the future generations.