The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The first John Green book I read was An Abundance of Katherines, and I fell in love.  I then read Paper Towns, and, finally, Looking for Alaska, the book that made Green famous.  When I finished Looking for Alaska, I realized that each book starred essentially the same character.  So, we kinda broke up.  I stopped reading his blog, and wasn't nearly as interested in his upcoming projects.  Then The Fault in Our Stars was released--to put it mildly--with glowing praise.  My resolve was weak, so I read it.  I'm very glad that I did.

The Fault in Our Stars is a cancer book.  Its main character, precocious teen and voracious reader, Hazel Grace Lancaster, is depressed.  She has a terminal case of Thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs, which requires her to wheel around an oxygen tank and periodically get her lungs drained of fluid.  Her doctor decides that she should attend a weekly support group.  It's there that she meets Augustus Waters, and everything begins to change.

Green succeeds by making his characters likable and honest.  They talk about their shared pain in a deeper way than most adults.  I cannot recommend this book enough to regular readers of young adult fiction, but it's also a great first book for someone who has never read a YA novel before.   As cliche as it sounds:  You'll laugh and you'll cry.  But, the tears are never cheap, and the laughter is pure.