An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green

Many now know of the author John Green from the newly released movie, The Fault in our Stars, which was based on his novel; however, I first encountered John Green through his sophisticated, yet quirky novel, An Abundance of Katherines.  I remember laughing out loud as I was caught off guard by the extraordinary and nerdy characters, Colin and Hassan.  Colin, who never quite lived up to his early beginnings as a childhood prodigy, can’t seem to get over his first love, Katherine, and his eighteen subsequent girlfriends (all named Katherine), none of whom quite live up to the first namesake.  I was also instantly taken with Colin’s sidekick and best friend, Hassan, who added an incredible amount of comic relief, much of which is based off of his Muslim background and weight struggles.  I felt that this character brought a much needed and missing voice in young adult literature.

Trying to recover from his complete heartbreak, Colin is whisked away on a road trip by Hassan which lands them in the ironic town of Gunshot.  Here they meet the complicated and dangerous character, Lindsey, who should be safe since her name is not Katherine.  Unexpectedly, Colin finds an unusual friend in Lindsey as he tries to mathematically compute love’s success in hopes that he can win his true love, Katherine, back.  Although somewhat predictible in that the solution of Colin’s love problem is solved by his unforseen love for Lindsey, the reader can’t help but root for these endearing underdogs as they complete their journey.  This read is targeted toward high school students, however, I have many 8^th graders who have found a love for all of John Green’s books and are rapidly reserving them from my “permission only” library.

-Kelly Sporrer – EDRL 524