"Outside Beauty" by Cynthia Kadohata

Helen Kimura is a gorgeous woman. Men are immediately attracted to her and easily fall in love. Helen is mom to 4 girls - Shelby, Maddie, Lakey, and Marilyn. The girls may have different fathers, but they all adore their mother and soak up her advice on beauty and men. One phone call threatens to split up the girls and send them each to live with their father. They are determined to stay together, and will go to great lengths to remain a family.

"Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

Imagine a world where everyone is born an Ugly. Then, when you turn 16, you undergo a radical operation to turn you into a Pretty. No flaws, perfect body, easy life....or so it seems. Tally meets a new friend Shay, who is determined not to have this surgery and encourages Tally to run away with her. The authorities catch up with them and force Tally to make a difficult decision - keeping her best friend or being an Ugly forever. Scott Westerfeld says he was inspired by reading "Liking What You See: A Documentary" by Ted Chiang. King County Library System has this story in a collection called Stories of Your Life and Others.