The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton Books) ISBN: 978-0-525-47881-2

Plot Summary 

Hazel is a 17-year old with terminal cancer.  She spends her time in her room away from friends, rereads the same book over and over, and resents the routine of her cancer support group.  At one meeting she meets Augustus -- an attractive former basketball player whose cancer is in remission.  He stares at her throughout the meeting and then asks her to come watch V for Vendetta. They quickly strike up a platonic romance, and being to bond over Hazel's favorite novel An Imperial Affliction. As part of his courtship of Hazel, Augustus tracks down the novel's elusive author.  Hazel writes to him asking what becomes of the surviving characters at the novel's end (a question she constantly obsesses about).  The book's author -- Peter Van Houten -- tells Hazel that if she ever happens to be in Amsterdam, he'll gladly answer her questions.  Augustus manages to wrangle a trip to The Netherlands.  Hazel finds herself living a life very different from her recent routine: she's out on dates with a boy, traveling the world, and about to meet her favorite author.  To find out the impact all of these changes have on Hazel, you'll need to read The Fault in Our Stars.

Critical Evaluation

Green surrounds a Nicholas-Sparks'-style tear-jerker romance plot with a charmingly erudite narrative voice.  Hazel's phrasing and diction will pull even the most hard-hearted reader through the breadth of the novel. But the novel curiously undercuts its own most appealing element by making its most erudite and insightful character -- Peter Van Houten -- the book's villain: a rather curious strategy for Green, who like Van Houten, seems determined to write a cancer book that isn't simply a cancer book.  Green seems to hold up two options for writing a book about cancer: a romantic sob-fest or a truthful intellectual study and then tries to blend them.  But by carefully following the footsteps of Sparks, the book seems to praise emotion over intellect, romance over realism.  The book leaps headlong into romanticism and fantasy when the characters board a plane for the Netherlands, kiss to applause in the Anne Frank house, when Gus' cancer returns seemingly overnight at more than full force, and when Van Houten appears stateside like the ghost of Green himself trying to return the novel to its intellectual beginnings.  While obdurate readers (myself included) may feel as though the author has broken his contract with the reader, far more readers will fall in love with the book and will give it a special place in their hearts and bookshelves.  Green's prose deserves it (even if his plot goes off-the-rails for some readers).

Reader’s Annotation

Hazel and Gus are a pair of star-crossed lovers (though the title is cribbed from one of Shakespeare's other plays -- Julius Caesar).  Their love isn't forbidden, but destined for tragedy as Hazel suffers from terminal cancer and Gus lives as a cancer survivor.  They bond over the love of a book -- An Imperial Affliction -- and set off to Amsterdam to explore their relationship and meet the book's author.

Information about the author

From the author's webpage: 

John Green is the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and The Fault in Our Stars. He is also the coauthor, with David Levithan, of Will Grayson, Will Grayson. He was 2006 recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a 2009 Edgar Award winner, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Green’s books have been published in more than a dozen languages.  

In 2007, Green and his brother Hank ceased textual communication and began to talk primarily through videoblogs posted to YouTube. The videos spawned a community of people called nerdfighters who fight for intellectualism and to decrease the overall worldwide level of suck. (Decreasing suck takes many forms: Nerdfighters have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight poverty in the developing world; they also planted thousands of trees around the world in May of 2010 to celebrate Hank’s 30th birthday.) Although they have long since resumed textual communication, John and Hank continue to upload two videos a week to their YouTube channel, vlogbrothers. Their videos have been viewed more than 200 million times, and their channel is one of the most popular in the history of online video. He is also an active Twitter user with more than 1.2 million followers.  

Green’s book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review and Booklist, a wonderful book review journal where he worked as a publishing assistant and production editor while writing Looking for Alaska. Green grew up in Orlando, Florida before attending Indian Springs School and then Kenyon College (Green, 2013).

Genre

Romance/Cancer

Curriculum Ties

The Fault in Our Stars is in included on the California Department of Education's online  recommended reading list:http://www3.cde.ca.gov/reclitlist/displaytitle.aspx?pid=39686

Because the book is included on the recommended reading list, it will likely meet the standards of section 3.0 Literary Response and Analysis of the California English Language Arts Content Standards -- Curriculum Frameworks.  This section reads, "Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They conduct indepth analyses of recurrent patterns and themes. The selections in Recommended Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students" (p. 67).  The book could be read in conjunction with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -- from which the title is appropriated (though Caesar isn't commonly read in California high schools).  The characters are also described as having their stars crossed, so perhaps the book could be read as a counterpoint to Romeo and Juliet (plotwise this makes a great deal more sense that Julius Caesar -- though perhaps we can read betrayal into the novel as well).

Booktalking Ideas

1) Examine the screwball-comedy-style interactions between Gus and Hazel.
2) Find humorous scenes to read aloud -- they abound. 

Reading Level/Interest Age

The characters are in their late teens and use elevated language throughout the novel suggesting that both the reading level and interest age would likely be 9th grade and up. 

Challenge Issues

The book includes a sex scene and characters use rough language.

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the book I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

I would discuss this particular book's presence on the California Department of Education's recommended reading list. 

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

The book was assigned reading and would clearly meet the content standards for California schools.

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips

California Department of Education. (2009). English-Language Arts content standards for California public schools: Kindergarten through grade twelve. Retrieved from www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/elacontentstnds.pdf 

Green, J. (2013). John Green's biography. Retrieved from http://johngreenbooks.com/bio-contact/