Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

King, A.S. (2014). Glory o’brien’s history of the future. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

“There is not one thing that is eternal.” A.S. King’s Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future really shakes things up. Glory, our main character, is the “atypical” teenager who has no major plans after high school although UNCERTAINTY seems to be a constant in her life.

Her mother’s suicide left her with a partial stigma that maybe that is the only venue available for her to journey. However, the unexpected occurs one day, and Glory soon discovers that after taking a dried bat’s alcoholic potion she develops a “superpower” that grants her the ability to look in different directions in life, both the past and the future.

While the past is somewhat revealing, the future is surely grotesque with all sorts of unimaginable although with predictable occurrences. Ironically, though, Glory jots down an account of all of these events, hoping they’ll make a difference. Her future might look somber, really somber, but she definitely won’t let it pass inadvertently.

The theme of feminism unravels in this story as only Glory is getting terrifying glimpses of a second Civil War where women’s rights disappear completely and the entire United States is thrown into poverty and chaos. Suicide is also present and it affects Glory’s father and Glory. Glory’s mother Darla committed suicide years ago and they can’t move forward with their lives. Suicide scars the love ones that are left behind in different ways, whether with self-esteem issues or feeling worthless because sometimes the affected parties feel responsible for the person who committed suicide.

This book could be used by a reading teacher to teach the elements of fiction, as this book successfully meets the criteria of fiction. This book is suitable for readers ages 14 through 18. If you like reading this book, which consists of 360 pages, perhaps you may also enjoy Reality Boy, which is also written by A.S. King.