Monday, March 9, 2015

The Fault in our Stars - New York Times Bestseller Young Adult

Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars (p. 313). New York: Dutton Books.

Characters: Hazel, Augustus, Isaac, Mrs. Lancaster (Hazel's Mom) and Mr. Van Houten

Themes: Death, Cancer, Love, Friendship

Summary:
Two ‘star-crossed’ teenagers fall in love; one has cancer and the other is in remission. Hazel and Augustus meet in support group and hit it off with their witty comments and book – An Imperial Affliction (AIA). Their friend Isaac has surgery to remove his eye – making him completely blind. To make matters worse, his girlfriend dumps him!

Augustus (Gus) surprises Hazel with his wish to go to Amsterdam to visit with the author of AIA, Mr. Peter Van Houten. Mr. Van Houten agrees to share the ending of his book with them. They fly to Amsterdam, along with Mrs. Lancaster. Hazel and Gus share a romantic dinner and watch the boats go by.  The following day they meet Mr. Van Houten who turns out to be a drunken jerk. His assistance quits and takes the teens to the Anne Frank Museum. There, Hazel and Gus share a romantic kiss then return to the hotel. After their sexual encounter, Gus drops a bomb – he’s cancer has returned.

Shortly after their trip, Gus’ health has deteriorated severely.  Before he dies, Gus asked Hazel to write a eulogy for him. After his death, Isaac tells Hazel Gus wrote something for her.  Hazel quickly started to look for it and realizes Gus sent it to Mr. Van Houten. It turns out Gus wrote a eulogy for Hazel.



Due to the genre of the book, I would recommend the age group would be 14-18 years old. The book is a love story and that hits home with many teens.  Obviously, the movie increased the popularity of the book and the author. 

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