Kara Nussbaum

Dr. McCracken

YA Lit Final Project

A Critical Reflection on The Future of Us

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler’s The Future of Us transports the reader back into the time of

the nineties and the era of the millennial. The story features Emma, who has just received a

computer from her father, and Josh, who has just received free America Online services. Josh

and Emma soon realize that they are able to change their fates, although maybe not in the way

they would wish. As the reader receives more information about Josh and Emma as characters,

Josh and Emma find out more about themselves and what they truly want in life. The Future of

Us transports back in time for a glimpse at the future and finds itself among the shelves of many

young adult readers.

The Future of Us appeals to adolescents for many reasons. Josh and Emma go through real

life circumstances that many of the readers may be feeling, such as divorce and remarriage of

parents, being rejected by a love interest, problems within friend groups, and worrying about the

future. Repeatedly throughout the novel Emma revisits her tough relationship with her father,

who moved away and started a new life after the divorce. She also experiences her mother’s

remarriage, where she fights with Martin for portions of the novel. Adolescents who deal with

divorced and remarried parents can find solace and comfort knowing that divorce is hard to go

through and react to. Josh confesses to Emma that he liked her in a flashback, to which she

rejected him. He learns to deal with and accept that fact despite the strife it causes in their friend

group at times. The predominant appeal to all adolescents, though, is the worry about the future.
Especially high school aged students are worried about college, and often worry about their

future in regard to careers and marriage. Adolescents can see that worrying about the future is

okay, but they can also learn from the mistakes Emma and Josh make as well as the realizations

about the future that they come to.

Asher and Mackler wrote to convey the importance of not constantly worrying about the

future in The Future of Us. For example, Emma is more consistent in wanting to change her

future because she is so worried about being happy. She even changes her original future plans in

hopes of never meeting Jordan Jones Jr. In this case, the authors try to teach adolescents that

consistently worrying about being happy and future plans will lead you to miss out on the day to

day important things; Emma originally misses out on conversations with Kellan and a

relationship with Josh because she focuses on how Facebook affects her future. In Josh’s case, he

focuses on having a relationship with Sydney and having happy family that he also misses out on

a potential relationship with Emma. The authors conveyed this message throughout the novel in

hopes to give students a glimpse into the past of the nineties while also teaching them the

importance of living in the present, not the future.

The Future of Us supports transformative education through constructing new meanings for

the future. Most adolescents and young adults view the future as something to be scared of.

Emma and Josh could see the future being paved out for them, and they were scared of that.

Emma was scared of her lack of happiness and a full career in the future, and Josh was scared

that his family and his wife would not be who he really wanted, even though family was what he

really wanted. However, throughout change their the novel, Emma and Josh learn that worrying

about the future effects present life and present happiness. After learning this, they finally accept

that they cannot directly impact their future and decide to listen to their hearts in the present.
This is transformative education; Asher and Mackler take this issue of the future that is set on the

hearts of most young adults, and teach them how to live in the present without worrying about

the future.

Young adults everywhere can appreciate the value in The Future of Us. Adolescents can feel

normal when they understand that Josh and Emma experience many of the same circumstances

that they might face. Mainly, though, young adults can learn to not constantly and consistently

focus on the future; focusing too much on the future can mean missing out on what is happening

in the present. Asher and Mackler explain and demonstrate this in The Future of Us, a glimpse in

the past to teach us about worrying about the future.