After reading Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why that hooked me from the beginning and had what I thought was a great story line, and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Mackler which I also thought was great and fairly deep, I was sure this was going to be another one that I couldn’t put down.
Wrong.
It takes place in 1996 and is about a girl, Emma, who is given an AOL cd-rom to load onto her computer. When she signs on for the first time, it opens up to Facebook which wasn’t even invented yet. She and her friend Josh figure out what Facebook is and determine that the “Emma” and “Josh” that they’re seeing on there are actually them in the future. They keep checking their status updates, home towns, and relationship information as it changes almost daily based on decisions (even small and seemingly insignificant, like throwing some water on a carpet) they make. Emma’s status updates are almost always based on her relationship with whoever she’s married to, and they’re always miserable. Josh is seemingly destined to marry a girl he already knows and have a wonderful life with her. Most of the book is based on Emma trying to change the present so that she’ll be happy in the future, and Josh trying to figure out how his actions in the present will ensure his future with Miss Perfect is indeed bright.
What bugged me the most about this book was that it was full of all that high school drama I’m always trying to steer students away from. I don’t think that high school students should be worrying about who they’re going to marry and how many kids they’re going to have, but this book falls right into that drama trap! I found it SO ridiculous that I actually laughed out loud in horror when Emma, a junior in high school, cried out, “So I can end up unemployed at thirty-one like the first time we checked [Facebook]? Or angry that my husband spends all my money when I do have a job?” (134).
Seriously? Worrying about all this in high school? Lord help us.
As I read some reviews of this book, all for the most part positive, I tried to step outside my critical mind to see what other critics liked (ummm….yeah….I’m a critic now too, right?!). School Library Journal’s review had mentioned that the first-person narration back and forth between Emma and Josh gave the book a sense of urgency. Nah. I disagree. It was amusing, but I don’t think it led to any sense of urgency. I was actually confused at times.
Booklist said it’s “clever” (agree) and “timely” (agree) and “will attract any teen with a Facebook account” (disagree…the cheesiness overrules all else). I’m going to agree with Kirkus Review on this one, remarking that “Focusing almost entirely on the teens' future love lives, the authors neglect 1996-era subplots involving the teens' friends and families that might have given the story additional depth and immediacy.” * Nodding my head YES. * Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Themes: today affecting tomorrow
Good for: boys and girls grades 8-10....but mostly girls since it focuses so much on future marriage and kids
Would interest: shallow readers who like to be caught up in lame romantic drama
My grade: C-
Boo.
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