The Future of Us – Jay Asher (2011)

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, published in 2011, is a compelling young adult novel set in 1996 that ingeniously fuses nostalgia and speculative fiction. The story centers on two teenagers who, after installing a new America Online CD-ROM, mysteriously gain access to their future Facebook pages. This unexpected glimpse into their adult lives sparks a chain reaction of decisions that begin to reshape the very futures they are seeing. Rich with 90s cultural references, this novel captures the tension between adolescence and adulthood, past and future, choice and destiny

Plot Summary

In 1996, Emma Nelson receives a brand-new computer from her father – a guilt gift for his absence and a symbol of the widening space between them. Alongside her estranged best friend and next-door neighbor, Josh Templeton, she installs America Online using a CD-ROM Josh brought over. They expect email and chatrooms. What appears instead is an unfamiliar website called Facebook. Its blue-and-white interface reveals something impossible: adult versions of themselves, fifteen years in the future, living lives neither expected.

Emma is stunned to discover that she becomes Emma Nelson Jones, a woman seemingly stuck in a troubled marriage, contemplating highlights, lamenting a failing career, and expressing sadness in public posts. The man she is married to, Jordan Jones Jr., is nowhere to be found in her present-day world, yet his absence in her future life feels hauntingly real. Josh, more skeptical than Emma, initially brushes it off as a prank. But the page lists his own future – college at the University of Washington, life near Crown Lake, and, most surprisingly, marriage to Sydney Mills, the popular, unattainable girl from school.

The two teenagers, caught in the delicate transition between adolescence and adulthood, begin to obsess over the digital glimpses of what lies ahead. Emma, in particular, cannot bear the thought of a disappointing future. She refreshes the page constantly, watching her future status updates morph and twist in response to the present-day choices she begins to make. She breaks up with her current boyfriend, Graham, a clingy drummer whose buzzcut only sharpens her resolve. But each change she makes to steer toward happiness only leads to more uncertainty on the screen – different husbands, different homes, different disappointments.

Josh, meanwhile, finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the possibility of his fate with Sydney Mills. He begins noticing her in ways he never dared to before, his imagination fueled by what he saw online. But this infatuation complicates his already fragile bond with Emma. Their relationship, strained since he confessed feelings she couldn’t return months earlier, begins to bend once more. They rekindle a rhythm in their friendship as they navigate this shared secret, even while jealousy, fear, and buried emotions threaten to pull them apart.

Each time they log on, the future flickers, reshapes, and reforms. Emma watches her life ping between cities, jobs, and partners. Sometimes she’s married to Cody Grainger, the track team heartthrob she quietly pines for. Sometimes she is single. Sometimes she’s successful. But always, the contentment she’s chasing remains just out of reach. The Facebook future, for all its shimmering possibilities, never seems to settle into happiness. Josh’s future, too, shifts, reflecting his changing thoughts about Sydney, about Emma, and about himself.

As their present-day lives unfold, the implications of the future weigh heavily. Emma’s obsession drives her to micromanage her decisions – avoiding Graham, attempting to flirt with Cody, even skipping track meets or engaging in academic decisions all based on the echoes of her Facebook page. The more she tries to control the outcomes, the more fragmented and unstable her future becomes. Emma begins to see her reflection not as a map to follow but a warning – a mirror of someone so focused on fixing what’s to come that she loses sight of who she is now.

Josh grows weary of the chaos. He wants to believe in stability, in authenticity. Though his curiosity about Sydney Mills grows, he cannot ignore the connection that continues to draw him back to Emma. Their shared history, the hours spent building forts, watching cartoons, whispering in the dark between houses – those things linger like the scent of summer grass. When Emma tells him that in some futures, they’re not even friends, it terrifies him more than anything else they’ve seen online.

Their small town, quiet and enclosed, suddenly feels like the backdrop to something enormous. Every conversation, every decision becomes a crossroads. Josh attends one of Emma’s track meets again, rekindling a tradition they both miss. Emma catches him watching and feels a flicker of the old magic, even as her heart spirals with confusion. The Facebook feed continues to reflect not only their shifting futures but their shifting present – small changes in friends lists, status updates, pictures that vanish and reappear. It’s not just a prediction – it’s a living document of cause and effect.

Eventually, both begin to question the legitimacy of what they’re seeing. If the future is so fragile that a skipped date or a changed conversation can rewrite everything, how much power should it hold? Is knowing what might be enough reason to surrender what already is?

Emma and Josh decide to stop logging in without each other. It becomes their pact – to face the uncertainty as a team, not separately. But even that resolution begins to erode under the strain of emotional revelations and old wounds. Emma realizes the future she keeps running from may not be caused by bad choices, but by the fear of making any choice at all. Josh understands that even the futures that look idyllic feel wrong if they don’t include the people who truly matter.

One night, Emma finds a version of the future where Josh is absent from her friends list entirely. No trace of him remains. The shock of it forces her to reevaluate everything. She understands, finally, that the real risk is not heartbreak or a disappointing job – it’s the possibility of waking up one day and not recognizing herself, of having lost the people who mattered while chasing the perfect version of a life that never existed.

Emma takes a deep breath and uninstalls AOL. The Facebook page vanishes. No more status updates. No more what-ifs. What remains is a quiet house, a spring evening, and a world she is finally ready to live in – not predict. She steps outside, the sound of wind chimes brushing through the air. Josh is across the lawn, holding his skateboard, the way he always has. And for the first time in a long time, there’s nothing between them but the present.

Main Characters

• Emma Nelson – A high school junior grappling with insecurities, shifting relationships, and an uncertain vision of her future. Upon discovering her Facebook page from fifteen years ahead, Emma becomes obsessed with altering her fate. Her arc explores the desire for control, fear of unhappiness, and gradual self-realization as she learns the cost of micromanaging destiny.

• Josh Templeton – Emma’s longtime best friend and next-door neighbor, whose friendship with her has recently become strained due to a romantic misunderstanding. Josh is more grounded and skeptical, initially resisting the idea that the Facebook page shows their actual futures. As he comes to terms with what he sees online—especially his future marriage to Sydney Mills—Josh’s character grows through quiet introspection and reawakening emotions for Emma.

• Kellan – Emma’s sharp-witted, fiercely loyal best friend. Academically gifted and emotionally perceptive, Kellan provides a rational anchor in Emma’s whirlwind. Her on-again-off-again relationship with Tyson adds emotional depth to the story and underscores the volatility of teenage love.

• Tyson – Josh’s crass but affable friend, known for his impulsive behavior and juvenile humor. Though often a comic presence, Tyson’s dynamic with Kellan offers moments of sincere vulnerability and underscores the difficulty of emotional maturity during adolescence.

• Graham Wilde – Emma’s current boyfriend, a clingy and oblivious drummer whose infatuation with Emma is not reciprocated. Graham serves as a symbol of Emma’s indecision and dissatisfaction with her present, prompting her to reevaluate her desires.

Theme

• The Nature of Fate vs. Free Will – Central to the novel is the question of whether the future is predetermined or malleable. As Emma and Josh attempt to manipulate their future outcomes based on Facebook updates, the story probes how much control one really has over life’s trajectory—and the unforeseen consequences of tampering with destiny.

• Technology and Identity – Set at the dawn of the digital age, the novel uses the emergence of the Internet to explore how technology shapes our self-perception and relationships. Facebook, a window into a future yet unwritten, becomes both a mirror and a myth, reflecting desires and insecurities in ways neither Emma nor Josh fully understands.

• Adolescence and Self-Discovery – The story is as much about growing up as it is about future glimpses. Emma and Josh, like many teens, are caught between who they are and who they might become. The Facebook device externalizes this inner journey, capturing the dissonance between teenage dreams and adult realities.

• Friendship and Emotional Intimacy – Beneath the futuristic twist lies a deeply emotional exploration of friendship and unresolved feelings. Emma and Josh’s relationship is the emotional core of the novel, reflecting how easily intimacy can be fractured—and how hard it is to rebuild.

• Regret and Reflection – The characters’ obsessive scrutiny of their futures mirrors the way adults look back at their pasts. This dual gaze creates a poignant atmosphere, showing that whether we look forward or back, regret is often a constant companion.

Writing Style and Tone

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler craft the novel in alternating first-person narratives, giving readers intimate access to both Emma and Josh’s internal lives. This dual-voice structure adds depth to the emotional stakes, allowing readers to see events from both perspectives and appreciate the misunderstandings that arise between them. The prose is crisp and accessible, filled with dialogue that feels authentic to teenagers, yet layered with philosophical undertones.

The tone oscillates between lighthearted nostalgia and contemplative urgency. The 1990s setting, complete with references to Alanis Morissette, Seinfeld, and dial-up modems, offers a playful and richly textured backdrop. Yet beneath the quirky references lies an atmosphere of emotional uncertainty. As the characters navigate their futures, the tone turns increasingly introspective, urging readers to question what it means to live a meaningful life and how the smallest choices can echo across time.