18) The Future of Us

Bibliography: Asher, Jay & Mackler, Carolyn; The Future of Us; Razorbill; New York; 2011; 356 pages; ISBN 978-1595144911.

Plot: It’s 1996 and Emma has just received her first computer from her father.  Her neighbor, Josh, gives her a free AOL CD his family received in the mail.  After Emma signs up for AOL, things turn a bit weird.  Emma is sent to a page called Facebook, and the profile is of her fifteen years in the future.  While exploring this new website, Emma learns things about her future, such as her husband, her career, and her friends. Soon Emma and Josh set out to try to set into motion what they see on their future Facebook pages, but it doesn’t take long for them to realize even the smallest thing can change their whole future. 

Review:  This book brought back so many memories for me.  I would have been the same age as Josh during this novel.  The authors stayed true to the time.  I can remember how into Looney Tunes everyone was during the 90s.  So many people walked around with stickers or drawings of the characters on their binders and notebooks.  I also remember the countries obsession with Seinfeld.  My parents would have thrown a fit if I had messed up their recording.  This book was so much fun to read just to remember all of these things from my high school days.

I really liked the main characters.  Emma was uptight and totally what most high school girls are like at that age.  They want to be able to end up with the hottest guy in school, even though most have never even talked to him.  I liked how unlike many high school girls, Emma took matters into her own hands and tried to make a relationship out of her crush.  Even though she changed who she was to make herself more attractive to him, she did what most girls that age would do.  At that age all that matters is being seen and she wanted to be seen.  High school girls change so much throughout their time in high school, that I wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed for Emma.  I actually understood what she was going through.  It’s tough trying to find your place in the world.

Josh was also a great character.  He was a great foil for Emma.  While he also tried to take things into his own hands, he realized who he really was.  He truly loved Emma and nothing was going to change that.

This was a great book, and I hope that many read it just to see that even though the technology has changed, the characters remain the same.  Everyone in high school is trying to find themselves, and this book shows that even though it may be hard, no one is doing it alone.

Genre: Science Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books: Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski; Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver; The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty

Characters: 

Emma & Josh – the protagonists

Kellen – Emma’s best friend

Tyson – Josh’s best friend

Author Information: http://jayasher.blogspot.com/p/author-info.html & http://carolynmackler.com/Carolyn-Mackler-Story.asp