The Future Of Us written by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

                                                           

         Remember during the years in the 1990s when American Online (AOL) was a popular website provider before Wi-Fi came into the picture? Smart phones were not invented yet so landlines were the only way to call someone. Does anyone remember life before social networks were invented?

         Written by the same author of Thirteen Reasons, Jay Asher collaborated with Carolyn Mackler to create a story about two teenagers living in the year of 1996. Josh and Emma, best friends living next door to each other. One day Josh gave Emma an AOL CD-ROM to download onto her new desktop computer. After Emma downloaded AOL something strange happened, a website called Facebook popped up on her computer.  It’s 1996 and Facebook hasn’t been invented yet, so of course Emma and Josh are confused why Facebook popped up on Emma’s computer screen and not AOL. But it gets stranger, Emma’s Facebook profile claimed that she graduated from high school, college, married to someone who she wants to divorce, and has children. Josh’s profile claimed that he married the high school’s most popular girl, Sydney, and is a rich man and happy man.

Throughout the book, Emma tries to change her future through Facebook since she has been reading her posts and comments about how unhappy she has been after college. Why? Emma just thought that of she changed her way in the present time then she would change her life through her comments and posts on Facebook. Josh on the other hand thinks Facebook is a hoax but he still tries to win Sydney’s heart since he knew that they eventually end up getting married and living a rich and happy life in a huge mansion.  What high school boy doesn’t want to marry the most popular girl?

         In concluding, since I have read Thirteen Reasons written by Jay Asher, I wanted to read the Future Of Us just to compare the two books. I personally thought that Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler did an excellent job writing a story with a setting that happened in my generation before the explosion of today’s technology and social networks. I would recommend this book to the people who grew up in the 90s and the millennial kids for two reasons. First, for those who remember the 1990s would remember having dialup as their Internet with limited websites to search and also would remember installing computer programs through a CD-ROM. Second, to those who were born after the 1990s do not know what the term dialup is or what life was like before technology that we have today. Therefore, I do think The Future Of Us would be great for everyone to read because the setting is a blast from the past with a love story twist.

Trivia Questions:

How did Josh get Sydney’s number?

According to Emma’s Facebook profile, how many times did she get married?

Three Things I remember growing up in the 1990s

     1) I don’t remember using the Internet much at my house (just playing computer games by using a CD-ROM), but I do remember walking (without my parent’s supervision but of course with their permission) to my next-door neighbor’s house and she would plug the phone cable into the computer. Now I don’t remember what websites that I liked back then but I do remember that the Internet was limited on websites and online shopping didn’t exist. When my next-door neighbor’s mother wanted to use the phone, off the computer we go and figure out what to play next so we don’t bother her mother while she is talking on the phone.

      2)   In the middle of the 1990s, I remember having an AOL screen name (well maybe several of them), I remember the Internet was getting better and I never had dialup (read number one if you don’t know what dialup is). Anyways, whenever I met someone around my age that I want to become friends with, I would give them my home number, screen name, and email address. I didn’t get my first cell phone until 2003 so using an email, home phone, and AOL screen name was all I had for communication, talk about a lot of things to keep up with just to try to get a hold of someone.

 3) My favorite game to play by myself was School. I would grab all of my dolls and stuffed animals and pretended that I’m the teacher and they are my students. I didn’t have iPads or iPhones to play with so I had to improvise what I had, which was toys.

Asher, Jay, and Carolyn Mackler. The Future Of Us. New York: Razorbill, 2012. Print.