Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

King, A.S. (2014). Glory O'Brien's history of the future. NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Glory is preparing for her high school graduation. She is preparing in a different way than all the other soon-to-be graduates.  Glory’s mother killed herself when she was only four. She wonders if she is different like her mother and if she will kill herself too very soon. Everything changes when her and her friend Ellie find a dead bat and put it in a jar.  Later, when the bat is dust, they add beer to the jar and drink it.  After drinking the bat, they can both see transmissions from other people when they look at them. They can see everyone’s infinite past and future.  When Glory begins to see her own amazing future, she realizes that she does continue to live for a very long time.  She’s not like her mother and she will do great things in the future. This book was sad, funny, quirky, and I loved it. While reading this book, I thought of Havinghurst’s developmental tasks.  Specifically this book made me think of how adolescents undergo changing relationships with parents.  In this story, Glory begins to understand herself and her family and creates a new relationship with her father that makes him come out of his 13 year depression. Then, her father becomes a father again and takes charge of his life and helps Glory get on with hers.

This book could be used with grades 9-12.

To download an educator's guide for this book, click HERE!