Title:An Abundance of Katherines
Author:John Green
ISBN:0-525-47688-1
Publisher:Dutton Books
Price:$16.99 Hardcover
Core Audience: 14 and up, mainly boys
Notable Aspects: road trip, child prodigy, friendship, dealing with relationships, best friends, maturing, jokes
Review: Colin Singleton has been dumped exactly nineteen times. Each time it has been Katherine that does it...not always the same Katherine, but always a Katherine. This leads the child prodigy to the idea that he can predict the outcome of relationships based on a mathematical formula. He has decided that in order to justify his intelligence he must do something groundbreaking. If he can prove his formula correct he will help every 'Dumpee' that shares his lack of luck with the opposite sex. He takes his show on the road with his best friend Hassan and the two learn about life, love and friendship on a tour of the country. Along the way, Colin meets an interesting young woman who is most definitely not a Katherine and she helps him learn that love may not be about names and formulas at all. This book is singular in its ability to make you literally laugh out loud. I dare you to go cover to cover without breaking into hysterical giggles. If the story doesn't do it then the interesting anagrams and comedic footnotes will. “Hassan's 'not interestings' had helped Colin figure out what other people did and did not enjoy hearing about...13....Among many, many others, the following things were definitely not interesting: the pupillary sphincter, mitosis, baroque architecture, jokes that have physics equations as punch lines, the British monarchy, Russian grammar, and the significant role that salt has played in human history.” This story is a light-hearted look at what it means to be a friend and what it means to keep a friend from taking himself to seriously. We have all known a Hassan, someone who forces us to laugh at ourselves and the world around us, and we have all been Colin, so single-minded in purpose that we are willing to forgo normalcy in the pursuit of perfection. With humor and clever dialog, this story helps us see the world in a much funnier light.
Reviewer: Stephen Horvath
Rating: 9
Review Date: 09/03/2010
