The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Well, I'd hoped to read more over Christmas break but I was only able to finish one book. It was an awesome one, though! I read The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. I picked it up because I'd read (and LOVED) another book by Jay Asher before (Thirteen Reasons Why) and because the premise sounded really interesting.

The novel is about two teenagers in the late 1990s, Josh and Emma. They get an America OnLine CD-ROM in the mail - I know, before your time - and are shocked when they open it up. They're expecting just a classic internet homepage, but instead, Facebook appears! Facebook hasn't even been invented yet. At first Josh and Emma think it's just a prank that someone from school is playing on them. But, as their status updates and posts change daily, they realize that no way can this be a prank. They are looking into the future.

At first, they think Facebook is really strange. They can't fathom why people would post intimate details about their lives for the world to see. But, before long, Josh and Emma (well, mostly Emma) become absolutely obsessed with their futures, logging on a few times a day to see what's changed in their future, adult lives. They become so obsessed that they sort of seem to forget about their lives in the present.

That part made me think a lot...in middle school, I was always thinking about what I would do in high school. In high school, I was always looking forward to the future, to college, and to new freedom. In college, I was thinking about future jobs, marriage, etc. We never truly live in the present, and The Future of Us is a great reminder about how important it is to do so.