about the book
“The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves … (that we are underlings)”. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Hazel and Gus have had cancer, and they think Shakespeare got that quote all wrong! It’s not their fault they have cancer…the fault IS in the stars. Life’s just a crapshoot and they lost.
Hazel was thirteen when she got the diagnosis of terminal cancer. At sixteen she is being kept alive by a miracle drug and an oxygen tank. She meets Gus at a cancer support meeting. Gus is hot, and has a great sense of humor… even though a malignant bone tumor has claimed most of one leg.
Growing closer, Gus decides to use his Grant- a-Wish wish to take Hazel to Amsterdam, so that she can finally meet her favorite author. Throughout the trip, Hazel struggles with the implications of falling in love with Gus.
It won’t last—after all, she’s terminal—and it isn’t fair to Gus. Is it?
about the author
Born in 1977, John Green grew up in Orlando, Florida, and Birmingham, Alabama. Though his family loved and supported him, John was a nerdy kid who often felt lonely and insecure. He spent a lot of time reading and listening to others. Though he thought authors were cool, he was certain that becoming one was an unattainable dream.
So he went to Kenyon College where he doubled majored in English and religious studies; and after graduating, he worked at Booklist, a periodical that reviews hundreds of books every two weeks. It finally dawned on John that SOMEONE had to write each and every book—could he possibly be one of those someones? As one of the editors mentored him, John slowly began to realize that writers were just regular people—well, maybe a little smarter, funnier, and better informed than most! John still doesn’t think of himself as an author. He just writes books in his spare time while making videos and running a recording company as his full time job.
In the past, he has also worked as a chaplain in a children’s hospital, a book reviewer, and a contributor to the Nation Public Radio show “All Things Considered.” He and his brother Hank have gained famed as YouTube video bloggers (vlogbrothers) with more than 200 million hits. They have raised thousands of dollars to fight poverty and planted thousands of trees worldwide. John also communicates with more than 1.2 million followers on Twitter.
After living in New York City and Chicago, John and his family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.
His advice to young writers? READ! John believes we learn how to write by paying attention to what has been written and how it has been written by all the writers who’ve come before us.
Sources:
Author website
Author profile : teenreads
Author interview : The Atlantic
Article interview : Intelligent Life - The Economist
Also by John Green:
Will Grayson, Will Grayson with David Levithan. Dutton Juvenile. 2010.
Paper Towns. Dutton. 2008.
Let It Snow : Three Holiday Romances. Puffin Books. 2008.
An Abundance of Katherines. Dutton Juvenile. 2006.
Looking for Alaska. Dutton. 2005.
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