Book Annotation: YA The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars (2012)

Author:  John Green

Publisher:  Dutton Books (Penguin USA)

ISBN:  978-0-525-47881-2

Genres:  Young Adult Novels
                Realistic Fiction

 

Summary: 

Sixteen year old Hazel Grace Lancaster has cancer and she’s depressed.  “Depression is not a side effect of cancer,” she reminds us.  “Depression is a side effect of dying.”  But Hazel is determined not to let death ruin her life.  At a cancer support group meeting she meets Augustus Waters, a teen whose bone cancer is in remission.  Hazel and Gus have more than cancer in common – both are witty, snide, and hungry for life.  As their hearts connect, they know (and we know) that there is heartbreak ahead for all.  In the meantime, their story provides laughter as well as tears.

Appeals:

·       Dialog:  I’m not sure that any of us in our everyday lives – teens or adults – really speak with this kind of wit, intellect, sarcasm. But I sure hope we do.  There is something so satisfying in the idea that Hazel and Gus can hone in so keenly on the irony of their situation.

·        Intimate first person point of view:  Hazel tells the story, so we feel the pain, love, confusion, and fear behind even the most glib of her phrases.

·       Characters:  This must surely be one of the world’s most difficult plots to make work.  But it does work, because of Gus and Hazel.  In a relatively short time and a relatively short book we get to know them deeply.

·       Setting:  A bonus for Hoosier readers is that the novel is set in the author’s hometown of Indianapolis.

Read Alikes (from NoveList):

• The Summer I Found You by Jolene B. Perry
• The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
• How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
• A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
• Just One Day by Gayle Forman

My Notes:

The day after I gave this book to my 15-year-old niece I received a text message:
 
“FIOS Day 2: As I close the finished book my symptoms include deep thinking, laughter, tears, wrenching sadness, and complete infatuation with fictional characters. This book has created a glass heart, filled with alternating layers of lovable characters, witty banter, and perfect description – only to be BROKEN by the cruelty of a hard fate. The fault was indeed in their stars. This book . . . this brilliant book . . . I loved it so.”

The text message moved me almost as much as the book did. When a 15-year-old describes a book that way, it makes me think that all of us – authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, readers – must be doing something right.