Title:
The Future of Us
Author:
Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Release date: 5th January 2012
Publisher:
Simon and Schuster Children’s Books
It’s 1996 and less than
half of all high school students have ever used the internet. Facebook will not be
invented for another eight years.
Josh and Emma have been neighbours
their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long – at least they
were until last November, when everything changed. Things have been awkward
ever since, but when Josh’s family gets a free AOL
CD in the mail, his mum makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on
her new computer. When the two friends log on, the discover their profiles on
Facebook.
And they’re looking
at themselves fifteen years into the future.
Everyone
wonders what their destiny will be.
Josh and Emma are
about to find out.
The
first time Emma uses the internet on her home PC, she discovers something life
changing. Facebook. But it’s 1996 and her profile reveals details about her
future self. Emma doesn’t even know what Facebook is, all she can deduce is
that she doesn’t seem happy in the future. With the help of her friend Josh,
can she create a future with a positive Facebook profile?
What
I liked most about this book was that it allowed me to reminisce about a time
before mobile phones and computers were so mainstream. I remember when it took
ages to dial a connection for your internet and I also remember getting my
first mobile phone. (I've just got my first ever phone with internet and now I
wonder how I ever managed without it!) While many teenagers will enjoy looking
back at how things were before they were born (imagine a life without Facebook!
), I felt that being a little bit older and remembering how things used to be
added another level to my enjoyment of the book which younger readers might not
experience.
The
complex relationship between Emma and Josh is funny, heart-warming and
emotional and really made the book a fantastic read. The way they verge on
being friends/more than friends throughout the novel is made really obvious and
humorous. Each chapter is written from the point of view of Josh or Emma and it
was lovely to see both sides of their relationship as it developed.
The way Facebook is used within the novel as Emma’s indicator of
whether or not her future is a happy one really made me think about the way we
portray ourselves through social networking. Some of us are optimists and only
try to post positive things so that other people think our lives are perfect
and others only share their misfortune. It's interesting to think how much of
ourselves we actually reveal through our personal profiles and how obsessive
some people get over checking it, just like Emma does.
I
picked up this novel because the idea of a world without Facebook caught my
attention. While adults in the world today grew up without home PCs, let alone
the internet, many teenagers today can’t go a few hours without needing to
update their status or check their wall. The novel explored the positives and
negatives of being ‘Facebook obsessed’ while being hilarious and uplifting. It
was a brilliant teenage novel but the future aspect made it a real page turner.
I
wonder what my Facebook profile will look like in fifteen years time and
I wonder if I'll like it?
4.5/5 I think anyone who uses
Facebook would really enjoy this book.
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