The Future of Us

From the moment I picked up Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, I have anxiously been waiting for his next book. Nevertheless, I think I first thought The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler wasn’t going to be fantastic. I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe the premise of the book didn’t grab me the way I thought it would. So, I decided to read it just because I thought how bad can it be? I love Jay Asher. I’ve read Carolyn Mackler and thought she was pretty darn good as well so….bring the book home and read it!

It turns out…I really do love Jay Asher. I’m not sure how two authors can come together and create a novel but I’m so glad they did. The concept behind the book is that Facebook hasn’t been created yet. Yes…there was a time when this was true! Since I do remember when AOL was the most popular way of communicating, I easily was able to see how the main characters, Emma and Josh, would be thrown for a loop when the Facebook page appears to reveal their futures. Married, children, college degrees, friendships…and you can imagine the confusion that creates along with the questions that it generates.

For the Facebook generation, it’s just a given that at any time you can log on and see what your family and friends are doing at any moment. For the rest of us, this concept can still be a bit mind blowing. So…I say to you teens of today…once upon a time, twenty years ago a guy broke my heart and I walked away and thought I’ll never see him again. A girl I met in college was the coolest girl I ever knew until she switched schools and we lost touch. I always knew that the guy I thought was cute and cool and brave would become some sort of somebody.

It turns out that the guy wishes he didn’t break my heart. The girl lives in Utah and is still way cool and that brave boy became a rock star. I wouldn’t know these things without Facebook.

The Future of Us reminds us of that and for the rest of you younger readers, it points out that the decisions we make today create our tomorrows.

Absolutely read this book, you won’t regret it.