Pretty Ugly is a 2011 young adult book by Karyn Langhorne Folan. It is the 18th book set in Bluford High, which is described on the series’ website as a “tough but nurturing school” (bluford.org). The books are written by an array of authors, including Ben Alirez, Devan Blackwell, Paul Langan, and Anne Schaff. Langhorne Folan is a Harvard Law School graduate who stopped teaching and practicing law to pursue her dream of writing novels. The Bluford books are notable for their high-interest storylines, and the series website cites the accessible writing, short length, broad cast of characters, and emotional depth of the books as reasons why they help so many young people develop a love for reading. The American Library Association has recognized the titles as “Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults,” an award given to books that encourage young people to read for pleasure. Pretty Ugly joins a tradition of books that tackle bullying in schools and promote courage and empathy. It develops significant themes within the genre, including Identity and Individuality. 

This guide uses the 2011 print edition of the book. 

Content Warning: This book contains an ableist slur in Chapter 3 and a depiction of child abuse in Chapter 6.

Plot Summary

Jamee Wills is a new 9th grader at Bluford High, the school where her older sister attends 11th grade. Jamee’s home life was tumultuous during her 8th-grade year—her grandmother died, her absent father reappeared, and she struggled academically, only passing because her teachers were lenient with her due to the circumstances. Jamee’s sister Darcy, in contrast, is studious and has a reputation for being intelligent and college-bound. Jamee is reminded of these differences frequently by teachers and other students. These early comparisons quickly grow to infuriate Jamee, who feels that she is being judged and found inferior to her sister. 

Jamee’s academic problems begin early; she scores an F on a math test and is instructed by the teacher, Mrs. Guessner, to attend afterschool tutorials and take a retest. Unfortunately, cheerleading try-outs are also held during this time. Despite Mrs. Guessner’s insistence that Jamee attend tutorials and the Thursday retest, Jamee’s passion for cheerleading leads her to tryouts instead. 

At tryouts, Jamee and her friend Amberlynn meet Angel, a shy girl who is new to the school. Angel knows no one and is considered a little odd. She responds with too much enthusiasm to the coach during practice, steps on Jamee’s foot while dancing, and is generally awkward. Angel quickly becomes a target for bullying, particularly by Vanessa, an 11th-grade girl who is hanging out with Tasha, someone Jamee knew in middle school. Tasha, Vanessa, and Vanessa’s friends Renita and Kym approach Jamee and her boyfriend, Dez, after practice. Vanessa compliments Jamee’s performance. The girls talk about Angel, calling her an ableist slur and mimicking her voice. Jamee tries to stick up for Angel, but Vanessa’s friends will not be deterred. 

Jamee and her family go to dinner at her Aunt Charlotte’s house. Aunt Charlotte is condescending about the family’s lower socioeconomic status. She gifts the family a laptop, which they use to investigate the colleges Darcy is interested in attending. The next day in school, Mrs. Guessner confronts Jamee, but Jamee lies and says she got her sister to help her with the test problems. At lunch, Angel tries to sit with Jamee, but Vanessa soon arrives and drives her away. Vanessa tells Jamee that she has a “reputation.” 

In the locker room before practice, Jamee finds Vanessa and her friends playing “keep-away” with Angel’s shirt. Jamee stops them and puts her arm around Angel to comfort her. Tasha secretly takes a photo of them. At practice, they work on tumbling, which is one of Jamee’s skills. As a result of the bullying, Angel is too nervous to perform well at first, but she asks for a second chance and performs a perfect “aerial” cartwheel. After practice, Jamee meets up with Dez, who suggests that Jamee must like him less than she liked her previous boyfriend, Bobby Wallace. He implies that Jamee went “all the way” with Bobby. Angry, Jamee leaves. Dez finds her and apologizes the next day, saying he listened to what other people were saying. He refuses to name the other people. 

Practice that day goes well. Afterward, Jamee meets up with Dez, Darcy, and some other friends at the local pizza place, Niko’s. Vanessa is also there, giggling over Tasha’s cell phone with her friends. When Angel arrives, Vanessa attempts to approach her, but Jamee gets to Angel first and draws the other kids’ attention to the interaction to deter Vanessa. When Angel gets her pizza and goes to leave, Vanessa tries to tip it out of her hands. Jamee steadies it, but Angel and Vanessa stare at each other for a long time. Angel leaves, and Vanessa warns Jamee that she’s made a mistake. 

Back home, Darcy and Jamee find their parents cleaning out their grandmother’s bedroom to make space for the new baby. Jamee’s mother answers the phone and returns angry and yelling. Mrs. Guessner has called to tell Jamee’s parents about the failed math test. Jamee’s parents are furious and once again compare her unfavorably to Darcy. Jamee talks back, so her mother slaps her. Jamee feels alone in her family. She goes to bed and falls asleep crying, waking to the sound of Darcy knocking on her door—Jamee has a phone call from Amberlynn. Amberlynn tells Jamee that there’s a photo of her and Angel circulating around the school and that it’s “nasty.” Jamee finds Amberlynn, who shows her a photo of her with her arm around Angel in the locker room. Angel is wearing a sports bra in the photo. The caption suggests that Angel and Jamee are in love. Jamee is furious but knows that she can’t fight the girls without getting into trouble.

On the way to school the next day, Jamee and Dez have an argument and break up. At school, Jamee can tell that everyone is looking at her and talking about her. She confronts Vanessa in public, but Vanessa refuses to acknowledge that she was involved or that it was a lie. Mrs. Guessner interrupts the argument. She asks Jamee if she will be at the math test that afternoon, but Jamee says that she can’t miss cheerleading tryouts. There’s more at stake now than just making the team. She needs to reveal that Vanessa was lying.

Jamee searches for Angel. She runs into two girls who are sympathetic about the picture and say they don’t believe the rumor. She finds Angel waiting tearily outside of Coach Seville’s office. Jamee talks Angel out of quitting, and the two girls go to tryouts. As they wait for their turn to go into the gym, Vanessa makes some snide comments. Angel retaliates, suggesting to everyone that Vanessa’s hair extensions are very cheap and synthetic. 

The next day, Jamee finds out that she, Angel, Amberlynn, Vanessa, Tasha, Renita, and Kym all made the team. Later during class, Jamee is called to the front office. She meets with the principal, the cheerleading coach, Angel, and another cheerleader, Crystal. Crystal confesses that she told Coach Seville about the photo. Coach Seville and the principal ask Jamee and Angel to tell them who sent the photo, but the girls don’t want to tattle. Jamee says she has an idea about how to make the guilty party confess.

That afternoon, when the squad comes together in the gym, Coach Seville confronts them about the photo. She says that they have one hour to figure out who took and sent the photo; if they do not, then cheerleading will be cancelled for the year. Vanessa blames the whole thing on Tasha, who resists and blames Vanessa. When Coach Seville comes back, no one is willing to talk. Jamee stands up and says she is quitting the team so that everyone else can still enjoy cheerleading. One by one the other girls join her in quitting, so that it’s just Vanessa, Tasha, Renita, and Kym in the bleachers. Tasha stands and confesses to taking the photo but says that it was Vanessa who sent it. Vanessa turns to Renita and Kym for support, but they tell her to just be honest. The Coach takes the four girls to her office, and everyone else celebrates becoming a squad. 

At home, Jamee’s parents yell at her for missing the test in favor of doing cheerleading. Darcy tries to interject and tell them that there have been a lot of things going on at school, but they won’t listen. They ground Jamee and send her to her room, but Angel and her mother come over to thank Jamee for everything she did. When Jamee’s parents hear about how she stood up for Angel and handled the Vanessa situation, they realize they were wrong about her. They agree to support her cheerleading as long as she does the best she can in school.