Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

In Glory O'Brien's History of the Future, A.S. King (Reality Boy) turns her piercing gaze on consumerism and feminism, as well as family secrets and depression.

Two high school seniors in a rural town find a petrified bat. When it crumbles to dust, Glory and Ellie mix it with beer and drink it down. The next morning, they wake up to find they can see the past and future of anyone they look at. Glory's mother killed herself when Glory was very young, and Glory and her father have never talked about it. As graduation nears, Glory and Ellie grow farther apart, and Glory is plagued by fears that she'll end up just like her mother. Then she finds her mother's journals, and everything changes. As she begins to understand her mother's depression, Glory also starts to understand herself. She watches Ellie throw herself at one boy after another, and examines the expectations society sets for teenage girls. As the secrets buried in her parents' past come to light, the confusions of Glory's current life begin to clear up. But Glory foresees a grim future in which women are not only banned from working, but kidnapped and controlled by a crazed rogue government.

The chapters alternate between daily life and troubled future, despair and humor, rage and acceptance. King skillfully weaves together two novels: one about a girl struggling to come to terms with her mother's suicide, and another about a future, war-torn America. Glory's ability to see a future, any future, is what ultimately helps her heal. --Jenn Northington, events manager at WORD bookstore

Powered by: Xtenit