Genre Pick "The Here and Now" by Ann Brashares

Brashares, Ann. The Here and Now. New York: Delacorte Press, 2014. Print; ISBN: 978-0-385-73680-0; Hardcopy Price $18.99.

Annotation

In order for their society to survive, the immigrants from the future must abide by several rules and limit their interaction with the times’ people. Prenna, one of these immigrants finds following this rule difficult when she catches the attention of a young man named Ethan.

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Book Talk

The future is bleak. A plague has wiped out most of humanity, and the survivors decide to travel back in time to escape their troubles. These refugees begin to blend in with the past people with strict rules and codes not too intermingle too much. One of the biggest rules is to not have “intimate relationships with anyone outside the community.” Refugee girl Prenna begins to wonder her place in the community as she gets close to a boy named Ethan who she appears to have a past connection with, as the following passage (page 35) outlines:

“Ethan was the first person who talked to me the day I started ninth grade. It was the strangest thing. He was sitting in front of me in math class, and he turned around and looked at me like he knew me, like we were old friends. With serious business between us, like he expected me to know him too. Two years later, I am still trying to figure out that look.”

The author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants has created a story of intrigue and romance, outlining the relationship between the two characters as well as the obstacles they face in regards to responsibility and their own emotions. As the story progresses, they will know what the future holds as well as understand The Here and Now. 

Author Interview