Extras by Scott Westerfeld is the fourth book of his series, following Uglies, Pretties and Specials. It is a futuristic, sci fi action/adventure novel for young adult readers. Although it falls under the YA genre, pre-teens, as well as, fifty somethings will enjoy this book. Unlike the other three novels, which featured a young girl named Tally Youngblood, Extras is the story of Aya Fuse, a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl. The world she lives in is called a “reputation economy,” in which how popular you are decides your wealth. Each person has a “face rank,” and has your rank gets higher (meaning you are becoming more popular), you are given more things, such as a larger house, more clothes, invitations to parties, etc… The way you become popular, as it is in today’s society, is based on how much people talk about you. Hovercams float in the air, constantly filming and recording everyone.
Cliques are one of the foundations of this society. “Tech Heads” (those obsessed with technology), “Surge Monkeys” (those obsessed with plastic surgery) and “Kickers” (those obsessed with posting stories to get famous) are a few of the many cliques. Aya is a kicker and she believes this is her way to get into The Top Thousand, the thousand most popular/famous people. Aya thinks she’s onto something when she meets The Sly Girls, a mysterious clique of girls who get their thrills from pulling off insane tricks with their hoverboards. Aya’s mission is to befriend The Sly Girls and “kick” their story. But the Sly Girls don’t want to be famous. Aya must keep their existence a secret. She does this, until they find something…something dangerous…something they believe could destroy their whole world. Aya’s inner journalist forces her to kick the story, in order to save the world. Before she has time to celebreate her new found fame, her story prompts the “bad guys” to come after her. When it seems like all hope is lost, the most famous person, who has literally dropped off the map, sends Aya a message and comes to her rescue. Tally Youngblood returns. Tally, who possesses supernatural powers from her many transformations and surgeries, helps Aya and her friends battle against these unknown people (or are they aliens?) But what is Aya supposed to do when she realizes they may have been wrong?
Extras is a fantastic novel. Westerfeld’s exaggeration of reality is a bit frightening–a world of hoverboards, floating mansions and constant supervision does not seem far fetched. However eerie, Westefeld’s story is action packed, engrossing and a must read!
