Author Jay Asher in EW

Jay Asher and his YA bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why are featured in the new Entertainment Weekly, just in time for the novel's paperback release today. I read Thirteen Reasons Why shortly after it came out in 2007 and found it powerful; I'm not surprised that it has gained such a strong following. (I do have to wonder whether EW came up with article's title—"How This Guy's Mystery Novel is Saving Teen Lives"—before or after the recent "YA is too dark" vs."YA saves" brouhaha, though.)

In addition to discussing the inspiration for Thirteen Reasons Why, its impact on readers, and the upcoming film version, the article touches on Jay's latest project: a collaboration with Carolyn Mackler. Titled The Future of Us, the novel is about two teens in 1996 who somehow access the Facebook profiles they will have 15 years in the future. The book won't be out until November, but the movie adaptation rights to The Future of Us were recently acquired by Warner Bros.

While I have a hard time feeling any nostalgia for the dial-up internet of the '90s, I'm intrigued by the premise of The Future of Us. Social media profiles are pretty skewed representations of ourselves—it'll be interesting to see how accurately they predict the future for these characters.

—Katie Bircher