Fault in Our Stars, Michelle Hinds

Title of Book: Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
# of Pages 336
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value:

Hazel Grace is a seventeen year old girl who has cancer and her mother makes her go to a cancer support group.  When she is there she meets Augustus and they start to hang out.  After going to Augustus's house to watch a movie they both decide to read each other's favorite novels.  Augustus gives Hazel The Price of Dawn, and Hazel gives Augustus An Imperial Affliction.  Hazel likes the book because it describes a girl with cancer whose life is similar to her own.  She is curious about the author who seems to have disappeared.  Hazel and Augustus grow closer as the book goes on, but Hazel is afraid of hurting Augustus when she dies.  She compares herself to a grenade waiting to go off.  Augustus soon surprises her with a trip to Amsterdam to meet the author Van Houten, but Hazel gets sick and ends up in the ICU.  Once she is better the doctor tells her parents that she should still go on the trip because she needs to live her life.

At the end, Hazel reads what Augustus says about how we all will get hurt in this life but it is our choice about who we allow to hurt us.  The setting of the book is in real time, and shows real experiences of teenagers today, although most teenagers do not have to deal with death and dying.  The language and style of the book is written in plain language that most teenagers would connect with. The author creates a connection between Augustus and Hazel that is seen throughout the book.  The theme is that even though there is sadness and hurt in this life, we make the choice of how it affects us.  The book is written from the point of view of Hazel, who struggles with how to make her life matter.  This is a universal human experience as most people want their lives to matter.