Monday, January 2, 2012

Teen Reading: THIRTEEN REASONS WHY By: Jay Asher & THE FUTURE OF US By: Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler



I hated High School. I mean really hated it. I'm sure a part of that was my own fault in that I had a terrible attitude- but mostly it was having to be around people I didn't like each day. Don't get me wrong- there were people that were great people and I was lucky enough to call a couple of those people my friends- but for some reason we always seem to remember the pricks, don't we?

Thirteen Reasons Why is the story of Emily, who commits suicide and leaves a set of cassette tapes for the people who contributed to her making that decision. Dark? Yes. Hard to read? Yes. Could I put it down? Nope.

This book should be mandatory reading for all teenagers- this was a haunting story and a terrifying portrait of what happens when we treat each other badly. It's funny how fast we forget that every little thing we do affects people. Just because something you say or do doesn't affect you- doesn't mean it won't change the lives of others (and not always for the better).
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I've said many times that I am SO grateful facebook hadn't been invented yet when I was a teenager. It was bad enough being harassed on AIM- facebook would have been fucking brutal.

All that being said- The two Jay Asher books I've now read touched heavily on being a teen today (FML- I'm so sorry to everyone who is currently in HS) and facebook.

The Future of Us was written by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. In 1996 two teenagers log onto the internet for the first time and through some inexplicable magical realism are able to see their own facebook pages 15 years in the future. The thought of seeing facebook before even being able to comprehend what social networking has become over the past decade is a bizarre thought.

The Future of Us was not quite the emotional powerhouse that Thirteen Reasons Why was- but it was entertaining and a truthful look at how easy it is to be an unhappy teenager and not always understand why.

I can honestly say that when I was younger there was nowhere near the quality of YA writing that there is today. I sincerely hope that kids today puts down fucking angry birds and read a book!

THE FUTURE OF US:

*Barnes & Noble Best Books of 2011

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