John Green: Stories that Sing and Soar

“What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green’s mastery of language,” wrote Kirkus Reviews in a review of John Green’s novel Looking for Alaska. Looking for Alaska, the winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Literature, is John Green’s first published book, but not his only award winner. Green’s books have accumulated legions of fans, stunning reviews, and armfuls of awards.

Just because Favorite Author Month, May, is over here on The Bookshelf doesn’t mean I’ve stopped recognizing great, favorite authors. John Green, an author from Indiana, writes novels about facing difficult situations of identity in a realistic manner. Having written three books and co-written two more, John Green writes deftly, blending loneliness, sorrow, humor, love, and self-realization to create stories that soar high above the bar of standard young adult literature. Choosing abnormal situations that can be matched with more realistic ones, Green brings the words on the page into the mind of the reader, planting questions and harvesting ideas. I have all five of John Green’s books, and I give them all five out five stars. I think it’s agreed that John Green is an author worthy of recognition here on The Bookshelf.

Looking for Alaska tells the story of Miles “Pudge” (ironic because he is tall and lanky). Miles, a loner who thrills himself in learning the last words of famous figures, begins attending boarding school, in search for the “Great Perhaps” (part of Rabelais’s last words). At this new boarding school, Pudge develops many new friends, some of which you would not call the best of influences. These friends include Colonel, a roommate who acts, well, like a colonel, and Alaska Young, a colorful, mysterious girl. Surprised at how deep his new friends’ thoughts are, Pudge sees the world from a different angle. Finally finding happiness and friends, Pudge thinks he’s on his way to the Great Perhaps. Until, of course, something terrible happens. Using humor and an interesting storytelling method of counting the days before and then the days after a certain event, Looking for Alaska is a great book for mature readers about decisions and the impacts they have on yourself and others.

 

Two other books by John Green, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns, also tell eloquent tales of trials and tribulations throughout the often harsh journey known as life. While these books pull key elements from Looking for Alaska, elements that made Alaska amazing, they are their own books, all completely original and diverse. An Abundance of Katherines won a Printz Honor.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written by John Green with David Levithan, and Let it Snow, co-written with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, are both fun, engaging reads that also contribute to Green’s repertoire.

Through a YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, John and his brother, Hank, have been making vlogs (video blogs) since 2008. Quirky and different, these videos offer facts about current events, opinions about current events, news about John’s books, and other assorted facts. With 539,164 subscribers and counting, the fans of these videos call themselves “nerfighters.” And fight they do. Through raising money for organizations across the world, supporting terminally ill nerdfighters, and creating sayings whose meanings are only known to them, nerdfighters and John and Hank Green have made a big impact on the world.

With his incredible writing, expert symbolism, and excellent storytelling, John Green is an author like no other. His next book, The Fault in Our Stars was number one on Amazon for six days after Green he announced that all preorders would be signed by him personally. The amazing thing is that that book won’t be published until early next year. I will be preordering my copy soon, so I’ll be ensured that I will receive the literary world’s next masterpiece. 

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