The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler – review

What if you could see into your future and didn’t like what you saw?  Would you try to change it – and would you even know how?

Josh and Emma, high school pals in the year 1996, have been having difficulty with their longstanding friendship since Josh tried to kiss Emma months earlier.   They see each other all the time because they are neighbors, and when Josh brings over an America Online CD-ROM for Emma’s new computer, things between them become even more complicated.  A website pops up that first seems like a prank but in reality is a look at the future – their future.  Facebook is full of pictures and strange sayings by people who seem to think someone cares about whether they are making cupcakes, fishing, or bored.  It just doesn’t make sense to either one of them, but when they find themselves on Facebook with a date fifteen years in the future, they have no idea what to do.  It can’t be a joke – and the more Emma looks at her updates, the more she finds she doesn’t like her future and attempts to change it.  Josh tries to discourage her; after all, his future looks amazing, and his wife is the hottest girl in school, a girl who would never even smile at him now.  When Emma sees how her actions affect the future in ways beyond her control, she realizes that every moment in the present is important not just for the future but for the here and now.

This is a fun story with a lot of humor that also makes you think about how the things we do now, whether we know it or not, can make a big difference to our future and the future of those around us.