Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between 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. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at 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. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

The Future of Us was a fascinating look at how decisions we make today affect our future.  The book was narrated by a boy and a girl, Josh and Emma, who discover Facebook...fifteen years before Facebook actually exists.  

POSSIBLE SPOILERS


Throughout the book, the main characters explored the future and the effects their minor decisions had on it.  By choosing a different college, Emma was able to avoid marrying a man.  By simply stating she would never live in a certain place, Facebook showed that she no longer lived there.  She became almost too focused on the future instead of living in the present.  Eventually, her future self cancelled her Facebook account, so Emma was able to stop worrying about the future.

Josh became worried that if Emma messed with the future, his future would become messed up.  He liked his future too much, and he became focused on making sure that would really be his future.  He was shown as being married to the most popular girl in school, so he began to talk to her.  He probably would not have talked to her if he had not seen his future on Facebook.

The romance between Josh and Emma would fall into the friends who become more than friends category.  I was able to predict that they would become a couple by the end, yet I still enjoyed reading it.

Anyone who wants to read contemporary YA with some time travel, pick up this book.

Katie