Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 9780525476887
Reading Level: Grades 7-12
Genre: Coming-of-age
Reader’s Annotation: Colin Singleton, former child prodigy, has been dumped 19 times, all by girls named Katherine.
Review
Colin Singleton believes himself to be a genius, but he worries constantly about doing something to earn recognition as such. So far all he's done is win a game show for child prodigies. He is a fount of trivia and a compulsive anagrammer, but the "eureka moment" that will produce work of enduring greatness eludes him--as does relationship success. Colin has only one close friend, Hassan, and though Colin's dated a lot of girls--all 19 of them, oddly enough, named Katherine--they've all dumped him. Usually in short order.
His most recent rejection by a Katherine has left him in a pathetic state. Hassan convinces him that a road trip is the cure. The two land in the crappy town of Gutshot, Tennessee, lured by its unlikely claim to be the final resting place of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. The two friends fall in with a group of local teens whose lives are intoxicatingly different from theirs.
Another important element (though not a big source of excitement story-wise) is Colin's work on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he believes will be his ticket to fame and glory. In it he seeks to mathematically represent all his past Katherine romances and use the resulting function to predict the outcome of any new relationship. The math behind this is explained in an appendix contributed by the author's mathematician friend. Furthermore, the book is peppered with footnotes, ostensibly factual asides from Colin's busy brain.
The results of all this eccentricity are a bit uneven. Colin has a singular and sometimes very funny voice, but he can also be whiny and unsympathetic. More problematically, the plot is a bit sketchy and rather slow. But the hilarious bits about devious feral pigs, including an epic chase scene, cover a multitude of sins.
Challenge Issues: Language, teen drinking, teen sex (nothing graphic)
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 9780525476887
Reading Level: Grades 7-12
Genre: Coming-of-age
Reader’s Annotation: Colin Singleton, former child prodigy, has been dumped 19 times, all by girls named Katherine.
Review
Colin Singleton believes himself to be a genius, but he worries constantly about doing something to earn recognition as such. So far all he's done is win a game show for child prodigies. He is a fount of trivia and a compulsive anagrammer, but the "eureka moment" that will produce work of enduring greatness eludes him--as does relationship success. Colin has only one close friend, Hassan, and though Colin's dated a lot of girls--all 19 of them, oddly enough, named Katherine--they've all dumped him. Usually in short order.
His most recent rejection by a Katherine has left him in a pathetic state. Hassan convinces him that a road trip is the cure. The two land in the crappy town of Gutshot, Tennessee, lured by its unlikely claim to be the final resting place of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. The two friends fall in with a group of local teens whose lives are intoxicatingly different from theirs.
Another important element (though not a big source of excitement story-wise) is Colin's work on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he believes will be his ticket to fame and glory. In it he seeks to mathematically represent all his past Katherine romances and use the resulting function to predict the outcome of any new relationship. The math behind this is explained in an appendix contributed by the author's mathematician friend. Furthermore, the book is peppered with footnotes, ostensibly factual asides from Colin's busy brain.
The results of all this eccentricity are a bit uneven. Colin has a singular and sometimes very funny voice, but he can also be whiny and unsympathetic. More problematically, the plot is a bit sketchy and rather slow. But the hilarious bits about devious feral pigs, including an epic chase scene, cover a multitude of sins.
Challenge Issues: Language, teen drinking, teen sex (nothing graphic)