Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Release Date – November 22, 2011
Publisher Website– Razorbill/Penguin
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 356 pages
My Rating- 8/10
**obtained from Book Expo America and the publisher for an honest review**
Here is the Goodreads synopsis
It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet.
Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM.
Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future.
Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.
This novel takes place in 1996. I would have been around the same age as Josh and Emma at that time the story takes place. This would make me around the same age as the future selves that they see on Facebook (roughly 15 years into the future). I could easily recall that time period of my life, and this book brought back so many memories.
I believe that people who were teenagers around this time frame will especially enjoy this novel. It’s filled with nostalgia, memories, and does so in a clever fun way. The 90’s pop culture references were fantastic. The novel has a lot of really funny moments. Emma and Josh’s reactions to Facebook and status updates are especially funny. The meshing of the 90’s with current pop culture ( think Glee, Harry Potter, among others) and you have some great comedic moments.
Emma and Josh are typical teenagers. They are likeable enough characters, but neither one really stands out. They help the reader wonder what they would do if they were able to catch a glimpse of their own futures as a result. I think it works for this story because of the nature of the plot. I do like that the friendship between Emma and Josh seemed very natural.
A lot of the novel deals with whether or not seeing your future is a good thing, and what ripples the littlest change could make to a path you’ve already started down. The novel reinforces choice, and behaviour as powerful factors in what happens to us. It shows us that nothing is ever determined and that the littlest action can have a huge reaction to later events.
This novel is a quick, light hearted read that will leave you smiling and a little nostalgic if you were born in the 90’s. The thing I really took away from the novel, however, is that while it’s wonderful to plan for the future, make sure to live in the present. You might just miss something wonderful that is right in front of you.
