![]() (He writes so much he forgets much of what’s in his books, so when he saw the quote attributed to him, he first thought it was his own.) But, when the quote was cited as belonging to Melody Truong, Green agreed to split royalties with her. How can teens not love an author who knows how to speak their language?Įarlier this year, Green admitted that a quote attributed to him on a poster - “I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met” - that was said to be from his novel Paper Towns was actually from a fan. The genuineness of his internet identity is what sets him apart. Today, of course, plenty of writers have an online presence but Green will converse with fans through social media and really seems to like using it. Through his social media platforms, Green actually engages with fans, rather than subscribing to the off-limits author stereotype. (At this writing, he had 4.3 million followers and had logged more than 25,000 tweets.) He also posts regularly (and with mastery) to his Tumblr page,. Green maintains a pretty active Twitter presence. Green writes Hazel - and all his teens - as full human beings, who are more than their problems. He didn’t want to write a sentimental cancer novel, and his character, Hazel, even says to the reader, as she peruses obits of other teen cancer victims, that she feared people looking at her life and defining her by her disease. But, the WAY Green tackled it is so different in its approach. And there is, of course, TFiOS’ lead character having cancer. But real things like depression, suicide, divorce, and running away impact his characters, too. Some are just a little neurotic, a little anxious, a little too smart for their own good. While Green’s teens aren’t pieces in a Movie-of-the-Week playset (far from it!), they all have real issues. “Oh, to be young again,” an adult might say when picking up a John Green book, thinking that it’s happy-youth fluff. Which is why a line like, “The world is not a wish-granting factory” (from The Fault in Our Stars), is, yes, wise, but also relatable - what one of us as a teen didn’t start to realize that nugget of truth ourselves? The reason teens read Green is because - by sounding like their deepest thoughts - he shows them he’s listening to them, too. He works to make his characters sound to teenagers the way teenagers sound to themselves. While he’s caught some flack from adults that his characters seem wise beyond their years, Green says he never catches that criticism from teens. He Knows That Teens ARE “Wise Beyond Their Years” Green’s teens are real and relatable and pop-culture obsessed, not one-dimensional, slang-spewing adolescent caricatures.Ģ. Hazel, in The Fault in Our Stars, is obsessed with a highbrow Infinite Jest-type book but also lives for the next episode of “America’s Next Top Model.” In Looking for Alaska, of course Miles Halter falls for Alaska Young: She’s a little wild, a little dangerous, but also a most-excellent confidante to her boarding school friends. Colin Singleton, in An Abundance of Katherines, is a veritable genius but he can’t solve love. They’re people who feel like your friends, imperfections and all. In Green’s books, his teenage protagonists are very smart but also very real. (An everyman who says things far more witty, clever, and insightful than the average dude, natch.) Is author John Green the king of young adult literature? With five award-winning, bestselling teen novels to his name (the latest of which, The Fault in Our Stars, is a favorite among both teens and adults), it would seem he’s due the honor.īut Green, by turns self-deprecating while also never one to say, “It’s just YA,” in his quest to write truthful novels for teenagers, is so in-touch that one can imagine him turning down a crown in favor of maintaining his status as an everyman.
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