The Future of Us

The Future of Us by Jay Asher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's difficult to know how to categorize this book. Is it Time Travel? Magical Realism? Paranormal? Exactly what box should I check to describe a book in which an AOL CD-ROM in 1996 opens an internet portal to Facebook 15 years in the characters' futures?

Since the characters themselves never time travel, and no one has psychic abilities of any kind, I'm electing to put it under "magical realism." Close enough, I suppose.

Josh & Emma have been best friends since they were little kids, but their friendship has been strained most of this school year due to some misread signals in November. Now it's May, and Emma's father has sent her a new computer, for which Josh's mother has given her an AOL CD-ROM. But when Emma boots it up, a strange thing happens: her computer displays this weird website called "Facebook." Is it an elaborate prank? Why are there photos of Emma looking older? And how much DO you really want to know about your future self?

For Readers' Advisors: story and character doorways. Plenty of teen angst. Some swearing. And the audiobook alternates between a male and female narrator reading chapters from Josh and Emma's perspectives.


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