The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler YP FIC ASHER

In the long ago past of 1995 Josh and Emma are neighbors and former best friends.  Things got awkward and they don’t want to talk about it! But when Josh gets a free AOL CD (google it kids!) in the mail his mom insists that tech savvy Emma helps install it. Strangely the home page is an odd website called Facebook.  Emma eventually manages to log on and finds that she already has an account…15 years into the future!!!  Now Emma and josh know what their future holds and every little change they make in their life seems to change their Facebook future!  Will knowing their future ruin their present?  Can you pick the life you really want?

Okay, there is NO WAY that a Facebook page of the NOW will load in any reasonable time on a PC running AOL from 1995.  For teens of today just know that you live in a golden age of technological advancement and feel blessed.  Besides that MINOR quibble this book is fantastic.  Told in the alternating perspectives of Josh and Emma, we bounce between characters frequently enough to keep things interesting, but not so fast that we get dizzy.  The premise is just so great that I’d normally be skeptical that the writing would equal it, but with Asher and Mackler you know you’ll get something special.  They both are great at getting inside a character’s head and making them feel real with small touches.  The book really looks at our current obsession with social media and how we try to live our lives constantly being watched by others.  Emma and Josh are obsessed with what Facebook tells them about their future, but they learn quickly that it’s hard to really KNOW anyone on Facebook.  

Another great touch in the book is the slow build romance.  It feels utterly genuine and warm and sweet, without ever overwhelming the focus of the book or being the only thing that defines Josh or Emma.  Having multiple authors helps both characters to have their own lives and problems and unique reactions to shared situations.  I also love that they made it hard for Emma and Josh to believe what is happening.  Far too many teen books insert something wholey improbable like future technology or magic to characters that have never encountered it and the character just goes, “Oh well, magic is real I guess.”  No.  That is silly.  I would go absolutely crazypants if I saw my Facebook for a week from now today, much less 15 years from now and during a time Facebook wasn’t born yet. A lot of the reality and weight of the situation works because this improbable set up is treated realistically.  It keeps you drawn in and feel invested in Josh and Emma.  This is a great read with a great premise and a great story and great characters.  If you want something that is both realistic and has a touch of the fantastic, this is a can’t miss.

You can check our catalog for The Future of Us here.

The Only Ones by Aaron Starmer YP FIC STARMER

They were the only ones left.  No, but before that.  Before that it was just Martin, Dad, and the machine that hums.  Occasionally tourists came by.  Then they didn’t. Then Dad left.  Finally Martin realizes, he might not come back.  He leaves the island and realizes there’s a whole new world out there.  Unfortunately, it’s empty. Empty, except for a city of kids that are each exceptionally good at one thing.  They could build a paradise, destroy what’s left of humanity, or if the strange boy that talks to the animals is right, then the machine can bring everyone back. 

This is not another dystopia!  I know, I know.  The world has seemingly ended and almost everyone has vanished, but it still isn’t an apocalyptic dystopia. It’s a FABLE. It uses the fantastic to look at issues that are very real: alienation, love, devotion, grief, obsession, humanity’s meaning, civilization’s role, etc.  The best part is that it doesn’t ‘talk’ about issues, it uses that characters and plot to bring it out.  The book is really a mystery above all.  The plot just slowly goes forward, propelled by its unusual protagonist, Martin.  Since Martin knows so little about the world, the fact that it’s all but gone isn’t that terrible to him and that makes this NOT the usual dystopia.  Martin is kind of curious and aimless at the same time, so the plot seems to sort of zig-zag and putter along and you’ll often wonder, “What is this book even ABOUT!?”  Exactly.  That IS what the book is about.  Figuring out what the book is about.  If that seems like a snake eating its own tale…good! This book is about twisting your brain up and getting it all wrinkled.  It is about abandonment, a city of dangerously gifted children faith versus knowledge, time travel, and everything in between.  No one is truly the good or bad guys and you’ll often wonder if anyone will do the Right Thing.  Then you’ll wonder what the Right Thing is.  Then you’ll get a headache.  BUT if you read on and soldier through, you’ll meet loads of interesting characters, see a bizarre parody of human civilization through the eyes of kids, and be rewarded with a mind-twisting ending that pays off all your questions but doesn’t GIVE you the answers.  Unlike most mystery novels, this really is a puzzle and you’ll be very glad when you ‘solve’ it.  Not for everyone and quite unusual, The Only Ones is a rare treat for anyone that is a bit unusual themselves.  

You can check our catalog for The Only Ones here.

The Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis Art by John Romita Jr. YP FIC BENDIS

The Avengers are back after Civil Wars, alien invasions, bad guys running America’s top security forces, and other assorted wackness. Now Hawkeye, Iron Man, Captain America (the Bucky one), Wolverine, Spiderman, Spiderwoman (they SERIOSULY needed both?), Thor, and Noh-Varr have to head to the future and stop a never ending war that will destroy the entire time-space continuum.

After probably the 33,467,898^th roster change we have an Avengers line up worth caring about (except for Spiderwoman and Noh-Varr. Nobody cares about them). And with the parenthetical exception all our new avengers have big budget movies coming out or have recently come out. Smart move Marvel! All imputing of crass marketing motives aside, this is an awesome roster of awesome heroes. Bendis makes good use of the heroes too and gives us plenty of super powered mega battles of EPIC proportion. When time gets all herky-jerky the Avengers have to fight foes from all sorts of alternate time streams, which gives Bendis and Romita Jr. to through in a bunch of shout outs to older Marvel stories that the super fans will appreciate (I did!). The art (as with anything Romita Jr. does) is superb. The plot is brisk and action packed and there is no drawn out soul searching or political allegories! A great read for fans of superhero comics and awesomeness

Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues by Geoff Johns Illustrated by Francis Manapul YP FIC JOHNS

The Flash is back and on the attack! Barry Allen is back from being trapped in the speed force since literally the 80s and is ready to get his life going again. Unfortunately, while he’s trying to solve Central City’s cold cases a brand new case hits his desk. Someone dressed like one of Flash’s old rogues winds up dead and Flash is the killer! At least that’s what the Rengades, time travelling cops that stop criminals from the past say. They have all the powers of his deadliest rogues, and have trained to fight his most deadly nemesis with the exact sane powers of him the Reverse Flash, Professor Zoom. How can Flash stop himself from committing a murder before the Future Cops stop him from stopping himself?

This is a fast paced, rollicking good time with excellent art, I hadn’t seen Francis Manapul’s work before this, but I love it. It is highly stylized and slick and goes great with the rich colors they use for the comic. they do a great job of making Flash’s enemies seem dangerous and cool (which is a tough feat considering how lame they usually come off!) This is pretty straight forward superhero fare with a bunch of fights and action, which is never a bad thing in my book. The far and above best part of the comic is when Flash’s Rogues meet the future Renegades and they all have a mega super battle of awesome and identical powers with Flash in the middle. It was a super awesome battle royale. This is a good read for fans of old fashioned super heroics

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison art by various artists YP FIC MORRISON

Bruce Wayne (the ORIGINAL BATMAN duh!) is coming back…THROUGH TIME!!! But if our Batastic hero makes it through the various time jaunts to the present he will destroy the Earth! For when Darkseid hit Batman with the omega effect (in Final Crisis YP FIC MORRISON), the Bat was charged with a sort of omega energy that will destroy all time if he ever returns to the present. One problem: NOTHING STOPS BATMAN!!! So as Bruce travels through time one of humanities greatest heroes is soon to become the universes greatest villain! And that is if and only if he survives cavepeople, witch hunters and ancient evils from beyond time and space, pirates (even Blackbeard!), cowboys, gangsters that want to frame his dead father for killing his mother, and assorted superhero ‘friends’ trying to kill him to save the universe!

Grant Morrison delivers again in another inventive and wacky Batman story that rewrites the mythos of the Bat and the entire Wayne family. Morrison has had an epic (and sometimes overly complicated) story that rewrites Batman’s entire past, kills him, sends him through time, and resurrects him. This is a great and weird piece in his bizzaro puzzle. The art changes with each time period but is excellent throughout. The work remains tense, because while you never really buy Batman would die from some measly pirates or pilgrims, you will wonder how he can defeat the Darkseid Curse. I do recommend starting with early Morrison Batman tales, but this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by comic book and Batman fans without knowing the full back story.