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Entertainment
Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013-the Echoes
Author Spotlight: John Green
Green is a quirky, internet sensation and a highly accomplished author
by Shaylen Ferguson Entertainment Writer
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“ ometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” –John Green John Green is a highly successful author of YA fiction, as well as a sensational Youtube blogger with a dedicated band of followers, and an educator. Outside of the limelight, Green leads a fairly normal life. John Michael Green was born August 24, 1977. Green went to Indian Springs School as a teen and attended college at Kenyon College with a double major in English and Religious Studies. Currently, Green is married to Sarah Urist and has two children named Henry and Alice. Shortly after finishing college, he began working on his first novel, Looking for Alaska. However, one might be more
familiar with his other occupation, courtesy of the little video snippets, Crash Course, shown in Mr. Rock’s world history classes. Green and his brother Hank began making Youtube videos in 2007, and have been known since as the VlogBrothers. In addition to Crash Course, the brothers also have several side projects including SciShow about Biology and various sciences and HankGames about videogames. The two have used their internet popularity for good, supporting many different charities including their own entitled: Project for Awesome. During Project for Awesome, Youtubers spend two days promoting nonprofit organizations and charities. Last year they raised $483, 446 for various charities, quadrupling their goal of $100,000. With just the right mix of quirkiness and sharp wit, his books will make the reader laugh and cry right along with the characters inside of the novel. Green has released several popular novels for young adult readers. These include: Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines,
and Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Green has received several awards and increasing popularity based on his works. These include the Printz Award for Looking for Alaska, the Edgar Allen Poe award for Paper Towns, and the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Sellers list as well as being on said list for an accumulated 44 weeks with The Fault in Our Stars. Looking for Alaska is about a boy attending a boarding school for the first time, making new friends and memories, until one event changes his life forever and tears his world apart. On the other hand, The Fault in Our Stars is the heart-wrenching love story between two terminal cancer patients and talks about the touchy subject of dying young and dealing with death. Green finds inspiration for his tear-jerking novels from a variety of sources. After attending Indian Springs School, Green began writing his first novel: Looking for Alaska drawing inspiration from his experiences at the boarding school. As for The Fault in Our Stars, influence and inspiration came from several different sources. But perhaps the most prevalent is Esther Earls, a 16 year old girl who passed away from thyroid cancer shortly after meeting Green. The two met at a Harry Potter conference in 2009 and hit it off over a mutual lack of dancing
Photo from public domain ability. She changed his view on dying young with a rich life and after her passing, he became determined to write a story about sick children. Green also talked to the mothers who had lost children to cancer to improve his story including the parent characters in The Fault in Our Stars. This quirky nerd has captured the literary world’s attention. Green’s novels have touched the hearts of thousands of people, writing about sensitive topics other authors shy away from and create unique works of literary genius. Currently, Green is not planning on another novel anytime soon, but that does not stop one from hoping.
Books by John Green
Looking for Alaska
The Fault in Our Stars An Abundance of Katherines
Paper Towns Will Grayson, Will Grayson