2030

This peek into the future comes to read more like a cautionary tale than a revel in the phantasmagoria down the road. It starts innocently—the day still breaks with the sun, though now there’s a “data orb” to immediately plug one into the constant stream of communication and information. Various labor- and energy-saving devices abound, and changes to the population pyramid and urban design are noted. But life gets awfully virtual: No need to go to Egypt to see the Sphinx, it comes to your classroom via hologram; why go to the playing field when you can take virtual batting practice? Broccoli now tastes like French fries, malls (yes, still malls) are “the size of a small town” with “moving racks so you don’t have to walk.” Your watch beams health information—“and even your feelings”—directly to your doctor. Despite such sobering data as the effects of AIDS on Africa, the zippy text and Manders’s electric artwork combine for a relentlessly chirpy treatment. It comes with an extensive bibliography; sadly, neither 1984 nor Feed made the cut. (Informational picture book. 7-10)