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An Abundance of Katherines Review
Letting expectations go and allowing love in are at the heart of Colin’s hilarious quest to find his missing piece and avenge dumpees everywhere. User Submitted An Abundance of Katherines ReviewsJanuary 5, 2009 An Abundance of Fun Picking up a book by John Green is a guaranteed treat; you know you are going to become friends with a host of teens who will make you laugh, make you think, and make you recognize yourself in them. An Abundance of Katherines is no exception, and it's a fun ride from the first pages. Colin Singleton is a child prodigy who wants to make his mark in the world and prove that he really is the genius everyone's expected him to be. To that end, he's working on a Theorem that will predict how relationships will go, and he has the experience to draw from: Colin has dated 19 girls, all of them have dumped him, and all of them have been named Katherine. So when Katherine #19 dumps him, Colin's best friend Hassan talks him into a road trip designed to clear Colin's head so he can focus. What they actually find, however, is Gutstop, Tennessee, and a girl named Lindsey who is perfectly happy to remain there for the rest of her life. After striking up a friendship with Lindsey, her mother invites the boys to stay in Gutshot and work for her for the summer. What follows is a series of interviews, hornets, new girlfriends, a fight, and a secret hiding place as the boys learn more about themselves than they'd figured they ever would. Green is a terrific author who knows just how to enliven a story with humor and then bring it back to the original concept subtly. I loved that Green didn't make all the Tennesseans seem like simple-minded hicks (being from Tennessee, this is a particular irritation of mine). Green is obviously a very smart man, and I loved the footnotes that explained the languages used and gave fascinating details about the conversations. My ability to imagine one boy falling for nineteen Katherines was sorely stretched, though; it was the one point of the book that kept sticking me and pulling me out of the story. But other than that, I laughed and enjoyed this book tremendously, and I would give it a solid 4.5 stars. Recommended for readers of all ages who love a good road trip tale. December 6, 2008 An Awesome Read This book was wonderfully witty, and I very much enjoyed reading it. John Green is a great author with much potential. November 10, 2008 Laughter My grandson thoroughly enjoyed this book. He said it made him laugh a lot and he read it all in one gulp and his stomach felt good at the end. November 2, 2008 Fun Audio Book This audio book was recommended by a cyber-buddy. It was really a fun read. About the book: Green's eccentric narrative follows the exploits of Colin Singleton, a fading prodigy whose hobbies include making anagrams, dating girls whose names are Katherine, and coming up with mathematical equations that explain why said Katherines have dumped him. After "Katherine the Nineteenth" breaks his heart, Colin and his best friend go on a road trip that lands them in Gutshot, Tennessee. Jeff Woodman delivers a solid narrative voice brimming with enthusiasm and energy. He embodies Colin by vocalizing his frustration and aimlessness while also executing great personalities and accents for the various characters Colin encounters. Woodman's smooth, animated tone produces an engaging atmosphere for this amusing novel. This book, although a fun read, would be far more enjoyable to teens I am sure. Great narrative, memorable characters, but just not much of a story. It did make walking fun though, and any book that does that for me, can't be a bad book. September 24, 2008 An Abundance of Katherines John Green is a talented story teller. His teenagers are complex and real, and the issues they grapple with are not of your average bubble-gum variety. He makes me interested in the people and hooks me on their stories. He's witty, too. This book made me laugh out loud in places. September 24, 2008 Excellent condition! Received order in a timely fashion. Was in perfect, new condition as advertised. Would definitely revisit seller. July 11, 2008 An Abundance of Awesome! **SPOILERS** Oh. Wow. That was amazing. Snappy writing, footnotes (!!), math, humor humor humor, love, Theorems, a total formula for success. It's the most natural-sounding book I have ever read. EVER. Random thoughts while reading: I loved that Colin had a Muslim friend, albeit a very non-practicing one, but still, I thought it was pretty cool. You just don't see that in books, especially YA books, and it was quite refreshing. I want Colin as my best friend. Seriously, he's perfectly sensitive and clingy and basically my soul mate, got it? The thing with the Katherines was without a doubt, pure genius. Amazing. Amazing amazing amazing. I thought for sure that Colin had made the Katherines up, or that they were all the same person, but nope, all but K1 and K19 were different Katherines, stunning! The story of Katherine the third was also quite intriguing, and you could see that coming without seeing it coming. (There's another point to bring up: the totally wonderful unpredictability of the book! Who'd have thought they end up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and enjoy themselves, not to mention, entertain the reader the whole way through?!) The anagrams were brilliant, although please tell me I wasn't the only one who noticed that they totally weren't around in the middle, that was saddening. Actually, the middle didn't have as many awesome footnotes either. Weird. And the footnotes! Random facts FTW, am I not right? I was wiki-ing stuff left and right, and knew that the Archbishop Franz Ferdinand was not buried there :D I wish we'd gotten more of the Katherine stories though. I was terribly glad that we got at least a paragraph for each, but still, in-depth Katherine stories, what an amazing book that would make. Prequel anyone? Oh, and the best quote ever? "You can love someone so much, but you can never love people as much as you can miss them." So strikingly true <3 July 3, 2008 Fast fine read I have not been disappointed by a Printz author yet and this book is no exception. Prodigy Colin is fearful of what happens as he grows out of being a prodigy and enters adulthood where he might just be normal. In his need to matter, he overlooks all the great things that normal life has to offer. The sense of humor throughout the book is intelligent and I laughed aloud a few times. My favorite line: "That's who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of." April 17, 2008 Really sweet and funny! God I love authors whose footnotes are as great as the rest of the text!! John Green has nailed interesting and intellectual in fiction! I love his stuff; and this book is my favorite thus far. The more I read of it the more I was into it until pretty quickly I was dreading that it had no sequel (I was barely halfway through it at that point). It is smart, funny, and relate-able. Great book. I wish it were 10 times as long so I was still reading it! (an ending I felt good about too) phoebe anne (As a result of the author and his brother Hank, I'm a member of nerdfighters.ning.com.) April 5, 2008 This book is really relatable for teenagers who are trying to find themselves. I loved the book. I think John Green writes with his audience in mind and really connects with them. The book is about a guy named Colin who was a basically a child prodigy. His goal in life is to make himself matter. Colin , along with his best friend Hassan, venture out on a road trip for adventure and end up finding so much more about themselves. This book really gets you to think and connects with the teenage mind. Thank you for your time and feel free to comment this review, Loran For more An Abundance of Katherines reviews click here.
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