The Future of Us

by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
356 pages
Reviewed by The Book Dealer

“’This is scary,’” I say. ‘You’re not even doing things anymore. You are just making up your mind and changing your life.’ Emma looks up at me but doesn’t say anything. The longer she stares, the more uncomfortable I feel. She smiles faintly, and then lifts onto her toes. Her lips press into mine, and neither of us pull away.
Emma brushes her check against mine and whispers, ‘How do you think this will affect our future?’ I part my lips as she slides her hand behind my neck, pulling us even closer” (p. 225).

 
It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long until Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird awkward them ever since, but when Josh’s family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto their Facebook pages, yet Facebook has not even been invented at this point in time. They stare into the faces of themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. They are forced to take a hard look at their actions and determine if what they are doing are indeed the right things.

Written jointly by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, The Future of Us is not only thought provoking, but it is brilliant. Every other chapter is written from a different perspective of either Josh or Emma. This book is not just for young adults, either! As a person who lived pre-computer, I could relate to the first time I “dialed-up” and heard, “You’ve got mail!” Young readers will not stop reading as Emma and Josh discover more and more about their futures. I love the possibilities, as this book will open up rich discussions about our destinies.