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The Fault in Our Stars
By John Green
Grade Levels: 9 - 12 and Adults
The Fault in Our Stars is by award-winning author and content creator John Green, whose books have consistently made it onto the New York Times’ Best-Seller lists, including Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. The Fault in Our Stars, the title of which is a reference to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is his fourth solo novel. It was so successful following its 2012 publication that a movie adaptation was released in 2014 of the same name. The movie was generally well-received, although as is often the case, the book was better.
The plot follows Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old with thyroid cancer and the 17-year-old Augustus Waters, whom she meets at a cancer support meeting. Hazel urgest Augustus to read her favorite novel, An Imperial Ambition, about a young woman with cancer - a novel which ends mid-sentence. This leads Hazel and Augustus on a profound journey as they track down the reclusive author to ask him what happened to the character. In the process, they grow closer, come face to face with both elation and disappointment, and finally admit their love for one another. This is a book that really cannot be spoiled and so I won’t reveal it here. The book forces us to consider a world of both beauty and ugliness, as well as the heights of passion and the depths of despair. A raw emotional experience from beginning to end, this book deserves to be read by anyone already aware of the value and fragility of life.
