We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future

By A.S. King

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Curriculum Subject: Personal Development: Loss, Guidance/Health: Women’s Studies, Social Studies: History, Personal Development: Friendship, Personal Development: Self-Discovery

Grades: 10-17

Download Educator Guide

In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last–a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities–but not for Glory, who has no plan for what’s next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way…until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions–and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do anything to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.

PRAISE & ACCOLADES

A 2015 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adult Book

★ “King performs an impressive balancing act here, juggling the magic realism of Glory’s visions with her starkly realistic struggle…. [A] powerful, moving, and compellingly complex coming-of-age story.” — Booklist, starred review

★ “An indictment of our times with a soupçon of magical realism…. Will inspire a new wave of activists.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “A novel full of provocative ideas and sharply observed thoughts about the pressures society places on teenagers, especially girls.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “This beautifully strange, entirely memorable book will stay with readers.” — School Library Journal, starred review