What if the only way to live in the future is to return to the past? Ann Brashares's (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) latest novel, The Here and Now, explores that tantalizing possibility.
Narrator Prenna James, 17 years old, comes from a world very different from ours. In her time, near the end of the 21st century, climate change has turned the world into an overheated, damp wasteland where food is scarce and plague runs rampant. Prenna is chosen to be one of the Travelers, a select group of citizens immune to the plague who will travel back to 2010 and work from there to avert disaster. Though she's been warned to avoid relationships with so-called "time natives," as Prenna comes of age, she grows dangerously close to Ethan. Though the 12 rules governing Prenna and her people are meant to preserve time and its "natural sequence," the mission of the group was supposed to be preventing the plagues and devastation of the future. Prenna begins to wonder if perhaps the only way to save the future is to break the rules designed to protect it. Ethan and Prenna, after a surprising encounter with a homeless man they call Ben Kenobi, set out to defy time and change the future--no matter the consequences.
Brashares imagines a horrifying trajectory: children too terrified to go outside, governments collapsing for lack of resources, mosquitoes carrying pandemic plagues. Skillfully weaving together time travel, planetary devastation, climate change, plague and young love, the author creates an engaging, adventurous tale. Though Prenna and Ethan’s romance is a central plot point, it never overwhelms Prenna’s overriding mission to save the future.
The author glosses over the more technical details of time travel and what makes it possible; telling the story from Prenna's viewpoint makes this the logical approach. Brashares carefully avoids info-dumps, and does not rely on futuristic technology to make her story work. Her novel brings to light ethical questions: What are humans doing to the environment? Can we stop it? Is it ever okay to change the past? Is it ever permissible to take one life if that will save countless others? Not all plot threads are tied up, which may frustrate some readers, but the door seems open for a sequel. --Kyla Paterno
Shelf Talker: In a departure from the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, two tweens from different time periods fall in love while attempting to save the world from destruction.