It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green  over the weekend with managed expectations since I have read amazing reviews about it. To say that I read  it does not do it justice. I inhaled  it, devoured  it, admired  it, loved  it. On my walk, I was distracted and several aspects of my life suffered because I wanted/needed/was obsessed with finishing it. And now I miss it. The main character, Hazel, is the 16 year-old narrator and she has terminal cancer. She is honest, reflective, funny, and smart. She meets Augustus at her minimally helpful cancer support group and the book is about their relationship and infinitely (a reference to the text…) more. Sometimes I think I could write a novel, but then I come across one like this with authentic dialogue, laugh out loud moments, incredible literary references (shout-out and thank you to google as a way to look them up), symbols, life lessons, and scenes that had me crying so hard that I had to put the book down because the words were too blurry. I hurried to finish this book, not only because I wanted to know (even though there was a certain inevitability) what would happen to my literary friends, but also because I wanted to get it into my daughter’s hands so that I could have a non-virtual person to share this book with.

As an elementary school teacher, I will not put The Fault in our Stars in our classroom since it is about a relationship between teenagers and there is at least one  scene I wouldn't want my own fifth-grader to experience. That being said, I cannot wait to discuss this book with my older daughters, my husband, my mother, my book club--you get the idea. Enjoy it!