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Book Summary and Reviews of The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

The Here and Now

by Ann Brashares

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2014, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.
 
This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn't come from a different country. She came from a different time - a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. 
 
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they're from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she's told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. 

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking - and a must-read novel of the year.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Brashares focuses on Prenna and Ethan's burgeoning romance, rather than the nitty-gritty details of her time-travel premise, and her fans will be happy to find that her prose is as resonant and realistic as ever." - Publishers Weekly

"This quirky tale of love and time travel demands that readers totally suspend disbelief to enjoy some of the more contrived plot elements." - Kirkus

"Brashares, author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and other YA novels, builds on her adroit adolescent characterization and ear for teen dialogue and ports them into an exciting time-travel adventure complete with murderers to thwart and mysteries to solve. The book's environmental message won't be missed by readers, but this is a cautionary tale rather than a didactic screed. Grades 7-10." - Booklist

"The author's younger fans will enjoy the relationship between Prenna and Ethan, and adult fans will appreciate the moral gray areas complicating their lives. It would be a solid introduction to sf for YA and adult readers curious about the genre." - Library Journal

"This gripping story is set in a world unlike any other and inhabited by beautifully imagined characters that stay with you long after the last page. As always, Brashares expertly captures the wonder of love's enduring power." – Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars

This information about The Here and Now was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Ann Brashares Author Biography

Photo: Peter Freed

Ann Brashares grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her three brothers and attended a Quaker school in the DC area called Sidwell Friends. She studied Philosophy at Barnard College, part of Columbia University in New York City. Expecting to continue studying philosophy in graduate school, Ann took a year off after college to work as an editor, hoping to save money for school. Loving her job, she never went to graduate school, and instead, remained in New York City and worked as an editor for many years. Ann made the transition from editor to full-time writer with her first novel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

When asked where the idea for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants came from she replies: "It started with a conversation. A woman I used to work...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Ann Brashares's Website

Name Pronunciation
Ann Brashares: br-shares

Other books by Ann Brashares at BookBrowse
  • The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants jacket
  • The Second Summer of The Sisterhood jacket

10 more...

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