Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

King, A. S. (2015). Glory O'Brien's history of the future: A novel. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group. Life has not been ideal for Glory. Her mother committed suicide when she was four and wonders if her end would be the same. As graduation approaches, she does not have a plan of what life will hold after that.  Until one night things changed for Glory, visions, the power, to see people pasts and future. Overwhelmed with the visions, Glory is scared of what the future will bring; power and greed in many ways. While making notes of the visions, Glory hopes to document enough to leave behind just in case she doesn’t make it back.

Adolescent’s age 14 and older will find the book deals with depression and mental illness and suicide. This science fiction novel allows readers to look into the future and the past to see changes within history. Teachers can use this book to compare real life historical event. Students can analyze both informational an fictional pieces of text.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Asher, J. (2007). Thirteen reasons why: A novel. New York: Razorbill. When Clay Jenson received a box full of cassette tapes, he was confused as to why, but the note informed him if he didn’t listen to them, there would be consequences.  The voice of on the tapes is Hannah Barker, a dead classmate. As he listened to the tapes, he heard her explain about each and every person, all 13, contributed to her death, how each individual taunted, emotionally and physically, enough to where she eventually killed herself.  With each person, Hannah gives direction to add to her stories. After a night of traveling the town late at night, heartache, and wave after wave of emotion, Clay’s life will never be the same.

This book is meant for ages 12 years-old and up. This dark realistic fiction touches on a range of topics including suicide and death, physical violence and bullying, such as rape. The protagonist, Clay, deals with the grief of losing a classmate while listening to her elaborate as to why she committed suicide. Teachers could use this book to discuss the importance of seeking help when questioning or visiting the thought of suicide. They could also use it to help adolescents see how their actions and comments can affect others and their lives. One never know what is going on is someone else's mind or what they are thinking. 

Thirteen reasons why: A novel is on the NYT Bestseller list for Young Adults.