The Future of Us [Hardcover]

Jay Asher (Author), Carolyn Mackler (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 21, 2011

Josh and Emma are about to discover themselves--fifteen years in the future

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 everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD-ROM 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 Facebook . . . but Facebook hasn't been invented yet. Josh and Emma are looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

Their spouses, careers, homes, and status updates--it's all there. And every time they refresh their pages, their futures change. As they grapple with the ups and downs of what their lives hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right--and wrong--in the present.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jay Asher's first novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list, with foreign rights sold in over 30 countries and more than 1,000,000 copies in print in the U.S. alone.

Carolyn Mackler is the author of the teen novels The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (A Michael L. Printz Honor Book), Tangled, Guyaholic, Vegan Virgin Valentine, and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. In 2008, Carolyn was a judge for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She lives in New York City with her husband and two young sons.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill; First Edition edition (November 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595144919
• ISBN-13: 978-1595144911
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (187 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Library Lady Hylary - Awesome premise, not so great execution. February 2, 2012

By Library Lady Hylary

Format:Hardcover

The year is 1996, and Emma Nelson is a senior in high school. She's a little lost in her search for love before college: she isn't really that into her current boyfriend, Graham, and her relationship with her best friend, Josh, hasn't been quite the same since he tried to kiss her six months earlier. In an effort to rekindle their friendship, Josh gives Emma an AOL disc for 1,000 free hours that he received in the mail. Excited to get on the internet for the first time, Emma plugs in the disc and is taken to a strange and unfamiliar website: Facebook. The site asks Emma to input her newly created e-mail address and password, then displays a page with her name and a picture of a woman who looks like her, only about 15 years older. Emma is confused, but soon she and Josh realize what they've discovered: a website from the future that allows them to see who they will marry, what their jobs will be, and who they will be friends with. Josh is excited when he discovers that he will be married to Sydney Mills, the most beautiful and popular girl in school, and will spend his life going on exotic vacations with his hot wife and their adorable children. Emma is less than thrilled with what she sees on Facebook, however. She seems to be trapped in a loveless marriage and hasn't really done anything with her life. Determined to ensure a future of happiness, Emma and Josh attempt to make changes in their 1996 present that will impact their 2011 Facebook profiles for the better.

This promising collaborative novel between authors Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, unfortunately, falls victim to a common problem: great premise, poor execution. The idea of looking into the future from 1996 via Facebook is something that many are sure to find interesting.... This basic concept will certainly appeal to a lot of adult readers who were teens in the 1990s and will relish all the nostalgic references. Unfortunately, the nostalgic feelings are the only that are invoked upon reading the book. Emma is a very unlikable character, seeming to care only about herself and jerking her friend Josh around after she learns he has feelings for her. Josh is somewhat more sympathetic, but not developed enough to be someone the reader can identify with. There is also a cast of supporting characters that are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Reading about Emma and Josh trying to change their futures while listening to Oasis, Alanis Morissette and Dave Matthews on their Discmans is moderately entertaining, but the warm-fuzzy 90s memories can only hold up the novel so much, and it's likely that most teen readers won't even have those.

As an uber-1990s fan and a daily Facebook user, I was very excited to read this book. I am personally only a few years younger than the characters in this book were supposed to be, so I was anticipating on really relating to the whole looking into the future via Facebook concept. While I did love all of the 90s references, I ended up being disappointed with this novel. I felt like it had so much promise, but the characters and plot just didn't do anything for me. I thought Emma was a huge brat and Josh was a bit of a wimp, so what happened in their futures wasn't interesting. I also realized that most teen readers wouldn't feel all the nostalgia that I got from reading about AOL discs, dial-up internet, mixed tapes, and Wayne's World. Overall, I think the authors had the makings for a slam-dunk but, instead, missed the mark.

Like my reviews? Check out my profile for a link to my blog for more recommendations! Read more ›

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant! November 21, 2011

By Confessions of a Book Addict

Format:Hardcover

Emma and Josh are next door neighbors and have been good friends since they were little. Josh gives Emma an AOL CD-ROM for her to try out since her got a new computer. It's 1996 and the internet is still a new concept and Emma is excited to sign-on. Once she does, she sees a page that says "Facebook" and it somehow connects her to her Facebook page 15 years down the road. At first she thinks it is some kind of prank, but as Emma and Josh further investigate, they realize that it's pretty much the exact opposite. What if they don't like what they see? Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler's The Future of Us is brilliant. Readers that can remember that first AOL CD and dial up internet will love to revisit this with Emma and Josh. Also, fans of time-travel will be on the edge of their seats as Emma and Josh discover more and more about their futures.

Emma and Josh are like Pacey and Joey from Dawson's Creek. I adored them. Their relationship was relatable and realistic for high school. I loved that each chapter switched from Emma's point of view and Josh's point of view. It was done really well.

The '90s references in The Future of Us were amazing. I went to high school in the '90s and it was so much fun to remember back to AOL, the problems surrounding dial-up internet, and life before all this technology. I loved the incorporation of '90s music, especially Dave Matthews (I was obsessed!) and could relate to each and every '90s reference. I felt like I was back in high school and living the experience right along side of Emma and Josh.

So, if you read my reviews before you know how much I love the idea of time-travel. Ever since I saw Marty McFly visit 1955 I was sold.... In The Future of Us, the fact that Emma and Josh somehow tapped into their Facebook pages in the future is such a unique idea. It truly had me thinking, because every time Emma or Josh did something relatively big in their life, it would drastically change their Facebook pages in the future, such as their relationship status, where they lived, the jobs they had, and even their status updates. And sometimes even the smallest things changed it as well. It gave me something to think about....like what if I actually took that path? Where would I be now? I can't imagine how this would have impacted me if I read this as a teenager. It's truly thought provoking.

If you like trips down memory lane to the '90s, a sweet romance, and realistic fiction with some sci-fi elements, namely time travel, you must check out The Future of Us. It is going down as one of my favorites of 2011. Plus, I just heard that the movie rights were snatched up by Warner Bros. Can't wait! Read more ›

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise but ultimately forgettable December 31, 2011

By Lucy Cat VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Set in the mid-90s, two teenagers get to peek into their futures when signing on to AOL and discovering a mysterious website called "Facebook." They quickly realize that the news feed and status updates of their future selves change based on their present-day activities. In an effort to rid their futures of bad marriages and careers, they attempt to manipulate their actions and motivations to improve their "news feed" outcomes.

The premise is definitely an interesting one, but the writing itself is a bit pedestrian and lacking ingenuity. The central characters are ultimately only concerned with catching the best possible future spouses for themselves (not exactly realistic behavior for 15-16 year old teenagers) based on their future Facebook profiles.

The overwhelming majority of the novel is concerned with romance and teenage angst. There's a few more thought provoking chapters scattered throughout the book, but as a whole its pretty run-of-the-mill.

I was excited to pick this one up given the great accolades the authors have amassed over the past several months. But I was underwhelmed by this book, in particular with the weak writing. B-

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute, enjoyable read February 10, 2012

By Evie Seo (Bookish blog)

Format:Hardcover

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and and Carolyn Mackler was a cute, enjoyable little read. The plot line was anything but solid and well-thought-out, the characters (especially Emma) were tiny bit annoying at times, their decisions - quite random and weirdly motivated, but all in all the futuristic Facebook theme, the intriguing premise of being able to take a sneak-peak into your own future AND change things around, together with the adorable snap-shot of the 90's, made for a decent, pleasant read. As long as you don't take the whole thing too seriously.

It's year 1996. Emma and Josh have been friends their whole lives. They live on the same street (door-to-door), they're both quite nerdy and equally clueless when it comes to relationships. They would still probably be "besties" if Josh wouldn't completely misread the signals Emma was sending him, and didn't decide to try and kiss her. Awkward much? After that their friendship has hit an emotional Ice Age and they started avoiding each other. They would probably never have spoken to each other again, if not for the weird AOL CD that arrived in Josh's mail one day. Josh's mom made Josh give it to Emma so that she can install it on her newly bought computer. When they logged on, a weird web page popped up. A Facebook page. From. The. Future. On this page, not only they can see their future selves, but they also discover that every decision they make in the present, affects what happens to them fifteen years from now.

It was an OK read for me. It took me one afternoon to finish it, and, I won't lie, I enjoyed it quite a lot. It didn't blew me away or anything, but nevertheless, I had a good time reading it. In terms of readability, it's definitely a crowd-pleaser.... In terms of emotional engagement, as well as plot line and character development - not so much. I just couldn't shake of the feeling that the authors stumbled upon a fantastic (if not epic) idea, but failed to explore it to the fullest. Which is kind of sad, because this book could have been so much better! But then again, it's not really a YA Science Fiction, it's a sweet little contemporary novel with some vague sci fi elements, and no aspirations whatsoever to be anything grander than that. Not to mention that the plot line had more holes than a Swiss cheese. For instance, when Emma learns (on Facebook) that her best friend, Kellan, is about to get pregnant, she freaks out and is wrecking her brain for ways to prevent it. What happens next? Well, nothing. The whole plot line is dropped, as if it never really existed. Same goes for Josh and the plot line involving his brother (Josh learns on Facebook that his brother is gay). Instead of focusing time and energy on developing the main characters and their story, the authors decided to start a bunch of meaningless subplots that didn't even get resolved in the end. The sad part is, I really liked the subplots and would love for them to be properly concluded. Bummer!

Same goes for the characters. Let's face it, they both kind of fail as reasonable human beings. Josh is a sulky little kid, who doesn't know how to fight for the girl he supposedly secretly loved and admired for God knows how long. Gee, you got rejected once, is running away and hiding for the rest of your life the best you can come up with? Why not try harder to win her heart instead? Why not step up and invite her on a date, sweet-talk her a little, show her you're serious about this relationship? Not that she deserves that or anything, cause Emma is an even weirder creature. She's immature, self-absorbed and unlikable. All she cares about is how hot a husband she'll end up with and if there will be a nice picket fence around their cute little house. And nothing else matters. And she's picky, too. No one is good enough for her. The whole thing is basically about Emma changing her future to ensure she'll end up with a good-enough husband. Ugh, talk about frustration!

Thankfully, there are some aspects of this book that I genuinely liked. For example, the narration is very smooth and enjoyable. It alternates between Emma's and Josh's POV and makes for quite a pleasant read. I also enjoyed going back in time to the 90's and remembering how different life was just the 15-or-so years ago. Your first computer. Your first ventures into the World Wide Web. Receiving your very first e-mails! Good times! Overall, although it might not be THE best YA book out there, The Future Of Us is still a fairly fun, quick and enjoyable read. It has its own charm, and, being extremely readable as it is, I'm sure it will prove to be as entertaining for you, as it was for me! Read more ›