The Fault in Our Stars

Bibliographic Information: Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton Books.

Plot Summary: Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year old girl in remission from thyroid cancer, finds her soul mate, Augustus Waters, at an ominous location- cancer support group.  Hazel’s parents and doctors believe she is clinically depressed, but all Augustus sees is a Natalie Portman carbon copy who is witty, beautiful, and amazing.  Augustus and Hazel are two peas in a pod- Gus missing half his leg, and Hazel shackled to her oxygen tank.  When Hazel convinces Gus to read her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, he joins Hazel in her obsession to know what happens to the characters after the story ambiguously ends.  Hazel contracts pneumonia and is admitted to the hospital while Gus loyally keeps watch in the waiting room.  After her discharge from the hospital, Gus decided to use his wish from The Genies to take Hazel on a trip to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten, the author of An Imperial Infliction.  What ensues is a journey of discovery, love, pain, and firsts.  Hazel falls in love with Gus “the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once,” but she worries that she is a grenade destined to destroy the ones she loves.

Critical Analysis: John Green brilliantly pens a novel, not about cancer, but about the courage to love.  His two main characters, Hazel and Gus, shine with intelligence, and their witty banter makes a potentially sad story bearable.  Underneath their big words and silly puns, we catch glimpses of their vulnerability- fear and pain.  While cancer plays a supporting role in the book, it doesn’t read as a cancer book.  The characters, their journey to find Van Houten, and their star-crossed gamble on love are the true stars.  Hazel, the negative realist is a fitting juxtaposition to Gus’s idealism.  She wants to leave the smallest scar possible when she dies, but Gus wants to leave a legend.  Green’s descriptions of life through the eyes of Hazel are poignant and stark.  The personification of cancer and its many side affects speaks volumes of Hazel’s perception of her condition.  Green doesn’t shy away from the ugly realities to which cancer subjects its victims.  To read about Hazel finding Gus in his bed soaked by his own urine, barely able to string a coherent sentence together is almost unbearable.  The Fault in Our Stars, like pain, demands to be felt, not just read.

Reader’s Annotation:

Cancer sucks, but without it Hazel would have never met Augustus.  How can the biggest threat to her life provide the gateway to make it feel so complete?

About the Author: John Green grew up in Orlando, Florida in 1977.  He received a B.A. in English and in Religious Studies from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.  After college Green briefly worked as a student chaplain in a children’s hospital, but then moved to Chicago and worked as a publishing assistant at Booklist Magazine where he met editor Ilene Cooper who encouraged his writing (Wikipedia, n.d.).  Green’s published books include Looking for Alaska (2005), Abundance of Katherines (2006), Paper Towns (2008), Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with David Levithan (2010), and The Fault in Our Stars (2012).   In 2008 Green wrote a novel with two other authors, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, titles Let it Snow.    

Green and his brother, Hank, collaborate on their YouTube channel Vlogbrothers.  They have uploaded more than 950 videos.  Their community of nerdfighters fights to reduce the level of suck in the world (Green, n.d.).

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties: English (figurative language: personification; characterization; plot elements)

Booktalking ideas (one or two):

1. When you are a ticking time bomb, what’s the point in falling in love?

Reading level/Interest age: Ages 14 and up

Challenge Issues: Includes teen drinking, alludes to sex, and covers heavy-hearted subject matters (sickness and death).

To defend challenged material I would:

1.    Read/watch/listen to the material to become familiar with the content.

2.    Familiarize myself with the Arizona Common Core curriculum standards http://www.azed.gov/azcommoncore/teacher/ to defend how the material can support the learning of these standards.

3.    Refer to the Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

4.    Refer to the collection policy of my library.

5. Collect reviews from staff/students/patrons who have used the material

Why I chose this book: This novel discusses a tough topic- teenagers with cancer.  Reading this book evokes a lot of emotions from many readers, and it received numerous glowing reviews.  It has appeared on many bestseller lists, and was New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice (Green, n.d.).

References:

Green. J. (n.d.) Webpage. Retrieved 10 March 2013 from http://johngreenbooks.com

Wikipedia (n.d.) John Green. Webpage. Retrieved on 9 March 2013 from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Green_%28author%29.