The Fault in Our Stars

Bibliographic Information: Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Penguin. ISBN: 9780525478812

Plot Summary: Hazel Grace, 16-year old cancer fighter, is forced to attend a church support group by her parents who are concerned about her depression—just another “side effect of dying.” She meets the gorgeous Augustus Waters there, an amputee in remission from osteosarcoma, who can’t stop staring at her. A relationship develops when Hazel has “Gus” read her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction. He wants to treat her by using his “make a wish” gift from a charity to pay for a trip to Amsterdam, home to the reclusive author of the book. But by this time, Hazel is unsure about pursuing love, because she feels like her condition could take a turn for the worse at any moment, and she doesn’t want to inflict any more pain on anybody—watching her parents suffer over her illness is already too much to handle. But her condition does worsen, and when she is admitted with pneumonia for weeks, Gus visits her repeatedly, ensuring her that he cares about her too much, and isn’t scared of any pain she might cause him.                                                 

So the fly to Amsterdam as soon as she is healthier, where their encounter with the author doesn’t go so smoothly. Van Houten is rude to the teens and they leave disappointed, with none of their questions answered. When they return to America, Gus’s cancer returns, and he dies. Hazel gives a speech at his funeral, and Van Houten shows up to reveal why he was so unwelcoming in Amsterdam: he lost his daughter to cancer and based the book on her.

            Hazel then learns that Augustus asked Van Houten to write a eulogy for her, giving him notes on what to say about her. The author decides to leaves Gus’s words as is, and Hazel reads them. Both facing death, the lovers agree that it is better to feel the loss of having loved someone who dies, than not loving at all.

Critical Evaluation: John Green writes about heavy topics with grace and lightheartedness. Love, loss and death come spiraling together as each character must face first love in the shadow of pain and disease. This is not the first novel that seeks to find hope in the hopelessness of cancer, but the voice, depth of character, and poetic call to the universe, is uniquely John Green. The author has already proven his ability to write a compelling and moving YA novel, and he does the same thing here. Fans of Green will recognize his usual smart, insightful characters and classic journey via road trip/flight to Amsterdam, but only in The Fault in Our Stars will they find a place to explore the intricacies of young love complicated by the darkness that comes with facing a terminal illness.

Reader’s Annotation: Hazel and Gus have cancer. Despite knowing the risks of falling in love, they take a chance, and learn that there is a good kind of hurt.

Author Information: Wikipedia states, “Green grew up in Orlando, Florida, before attending Indian Springs School, a boarding and day school outside of Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from Kenyon College in 2000 with a double major in English and Religious Studies.

After leaving college, Green spent five months working as a student chaplain in a children's hospital, and was enrolled at the University of Chicago Divinity School at the time, although he never actually attended. His experiences of working with children with life-threatening illnesses inspired him to later write The Fault in Our Stars.

Green lived for several years in Chicago, where he worked for the book review journal Booklist as a publishing assistant and production editor while writing Looking for Alaska. While there, he reviewed hundreds of books, particularly literary fiction and books about Islam or conjoined twins. He has also critiqued books for The New York Times Book Review and written for National Public Radio's All Things Considered and WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Green lived in New York City for two years while his wife attended graduate school.”

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Subjects: love, terminal illness, death

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Start with the Shakespearian quote:

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

And segue into the plot.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 16+

Challenge Issues/Defense: Due to dealing with serious topics like cancer, death, and sexuality, this book may be challenged. If so, refer to:

1.     The San Francisco Public Library Collection Development Policy, Selection Criteria, and Teen Collection documents.

2.     The California Department of Education District Selection Policies, Reading Lists, and Resources for Recommended Literature: Pre-K-12.

3.     A hard copy of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights.

4.     Mixed book reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publisher’s Weekly.

5.     Book selection rationale.

6.     If necessary, The San Francisco Public Library’s Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form.

Reason for Selection: John Green has established himself as the prominent YA voice of today, and his award-winning reputation has kept this book at the top of all the best sellers lists since it came out.