The
Future of Us
Jay
Asher and Carolyn Mackler
ISBN: 978-1595144911
Razorbill,
2011
Plot
Summary: The
year is 1996 and Josh and Emma have been best friends and neighbors their whole
lives. That is until last November when everything changed and Josh admitted
his feelings toward Emma in an ill-timed kiss. Unfortunately, Josh's feelings
were not reciprocated and everything has been awkward since. Josh tries to
reopen communication when his family receives a free AOL disc in the mail.
Since Josh does not have the Internet, he decides to take it to Emma to install
on her new computer—a gift to her from her father before he left the family.
When Emma creates an account she hops online only to find a website called
Facebook bookmarked on her homepage. As they investigate profiles of themselves
supposedly written 15 years in the future they go from believing it to be a
massive prank to wondering if they are really viewing their potential future
selves. Emma, not happy with what she reads, decides to try and change her
future life by altering her present one which affects Josh’s pretty awesome
prospects. With every refresh of the page, they soon have to work together and
come to terms with the very real possibility that if they don’t their future
they have to change who they are today starting by taking a real look at who
they are and who they want to be.
Critical
Evaluation: This is a solid entry in YA fiction by two pretty
established authors collaborating together. Each character is well drawn and
relatable to both genders. Everyone will fall in love with Josh for his
slightly nerdy portrayal as the guy who put his heart on his sleeve for love
and gets rejected by Emma, the girl who is too oblivious to see love when it’s
standing right in front of her. Due to Josh’s nerdy background it’s also pretty
hilarious to see who he winds up married to in his future and readers can
understand why he’s reluctant to try to change the course of his life. Of
course, while Emma is trying to change everything about her future, Josh is
trying to figure out what it is he does that gets him such a good one. Emma is
a mixed-up girl—she clearly has feelings for Josh but is too scared to admit it
and keeps going out of her way to date jerks. She can actually be quite bitchy
at times, especially as she attempts to change her future and make it better
and instead makes it worse and worse. Josh is the rational one who sees the
consequences of messing with their futures—that they aren’t just affecting
their own lives but the lives of other people too. The only downside to the
book is that some references to things in the late 1990s will easily go over
current readers’ heads but those should be forgiven as readers will get a kick
out of Josh and Emma attempting to navigate Facebook and all the things it
does. We all know the story will have a happy ending, but by the end there are
a few questions that are left unanswered (such as the potential future of
Emma’s best friend who is supposedly going to get pregnant very soon).
Reader's
Annotation:
It is 1996 and Josh takes a new AOL CD-ROM to his friend Emma (since she has a
computer). When Emma installs it, she and Josh are met with an interesting
website—Facebook. Problem is Facebook doesn’t get invented until 15 years later
. . .
Author
Information:
Jay
Asher was born in Arcadia, California, on September 30th,
1975. He grew up in a family that encouraged all of his interests, from playing
the guitar to his writing. He attended Cuesta College
right after graduating from high school. It was here where he wrote his first
two children’s books for a class called Children’s Literature Appreciation. At
this point in his life, he had decided he wanted to become an elementary school
teacher. He then transferred to California
Polytechnic State
University in San Luis Obispo where he left his senior year
in order to pursue his career as a serious writer. Throughout his life he
worked in various establishments, including as a salesman in a shoe store and
in libraries and bookstores. Many of his work experiences had an impact on some
aspect of his writing. He is the author of Thirteen
Reasons Why and The Future of Us (Asher, n.d.).
Carolyn
Mackler is the author of the popular 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. Carolyn’s most recent novel, The Future of Us, co-written with
bestselling author Jay Asher, has received starred reviews, and the film rights
have been sold to Warner Brothers. Carolyn’s novels have been published in
several countries, including the United Kingdom,
Australia, Germany, France,
Italy, Korea, the Netherlands,
Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia. Carolyn has contributed
to anthologies for teens, including Dear
Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories. She has a short story in Thirteen, edited by James Howe, and in Sixteen, edited by Megan McCafferty.
Carolyn regularly writes short stories for American
Girl. Carolyn lives in New York
City with her husband and two young sons (Mackler, n.d.).
Genre: Realistic, Science Fiction
Curriculum
Ties: Technology (what would you want your future profile
to look like?)
Booktalking
Ideas:
Discuss what it would be like to access your profile in 15 years? Read a quirky
section about Emma and Josh accessing Facebook and not understanding the
features.
Reading
Level/Interest Age:
14+
Challenge
Issues: Mild
language, some sexual situations (getting to second base in public), some
drinking
Challenge
Defense: If
this book were challenged, I would make sure the library has a Challenge
Defense File ready for such a situation. Inside the Challenge Defense File,
librarians and the public could find:
·
A
copy of the American Library Association’s Library
Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)
·
A
copy of the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement (Can be
found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement)
·
A
copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public
Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an
example).
·
A
copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the
La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request
form).
·
Copies
of reviews—both good and bad—from reputable library and publishing services to
justify why a book was selected for inclusion in the collection. These include
not only reviews from such journals as School
Library Journal, VOYA, Horn Book, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist, but also any mention of books
on YALSA lists and other copies of articles about any awards or nominations
such books may have received.
·
Include
a short rationale file for other coworkers so if the librarian in charge of
selecting materials is not available when a challenge occurs the other staff
members have some information to go by (the rational would include such
information as a short summary, what could be challenged, reviews, awards and
nominations, etc.)
·
Include
for staff members a copy of “Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to
Library Materials,” a document written by the American Library Association.
Make sure that staff reviews this document periodically so they are prepared
and know how to face such situations. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s
website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips)
Reason
for Inclusion:
Two great YA authors writing a realistic story that has a hint of sci-fi in it.
References:
Jay
Asher. (n.d.). Goodreads author profile.
Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/569269.Jay_Asher
No comments:
Post a Comment