“All the Pretty Little Faces” by Jason Hawkins holds a universal theme that almost all teenagers can relate to and learn from. In this piece, the main character is asked out by a boy to whom she refers to as “Winter,” an occurrence that pushes the main character to look nicer; first by putting on makeup and then a bunch of perfect faces she received in a trunk. By putting on these beautiful faces, she “became more beautiful, attracted more friends, and became one of the most adored girls in the school.”

          The main character’s downfall, however, began the day of her date with Winter in which she put on the most perfect face and it backfired on her! Winter ended up not recognizing her for she was nothing like the girl who he first asked out; she was nothing like herself. It was only until she caught  her reflection in the mirror did she realize she had turned into a monster. The perfect faces and symmetrical beauty were actually beastly faces because none of them belonged to her. Putting on a face and pretending to be someone else was what scared her natural beauty.
          “All the Pretty Little Faces” describes how society can warp our definitions of beauty and fill us with misconceptions of what is “beautiful.” This is a theme prevalent in most of the lives of teenagers who have lost themselves in the midst of trying to appeal to society. This piece reminds readers to never forget the true meaning of beauty because true beauty is never external. Beauty doesn't mean having the best clothes, having a bunch of friends, and being adored by all. Beauty doesn't mean having a thigh gap or having a flat stomach. Beauty doesn't mean having tumblr hairstyles, looking like an Instagram model, and garnering the most likes on a picture. Beauty is, as their main character learns at the end, a “nice laugh, a kind heart, and realizing that the face you have may not be ‘pretty’ to the rest of the world, but it's more beautiful than you could ever imagine.”