Published: January 10, 2012
Author: John Green
Publisher :Dutton Juvenile
Adaptations: The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Characters: Augustus Waters, Hazel Grace Lancaster, more
Genres: Young-adult fiction, Romance novel
Awards: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fiction

1)The-Fault-in-Our-StarsCancer is such a dreadful disease, indiscriminate in its choice of victim, choosing with aplomb regardless of age, gender, or status. There are a myriad of stories behind the tragedy and many of them remain untold.
In The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, he builds a story out of darkness and despair. He takes the tragedy of cancer and immerses us in the lives of characters that could very well be real. Many know of the heartaches in dealing with those who fight the fight, and many of those scars last a lifetime. He brings his story in the form of a teen girl, Hazel Lancaster. Stricken with cancer from a young age, she believes she has come to terms with what her life has become. Then she meets a young man, Augustus Waters, a survivor of cancer. He is drawn to her in a way that is initially uncomfortable, and as she tries to push him away in her sarcastic vein, he finds her to be exactly the type of girl he has been looking for. Throughout the story there is a beauty and humor, a 'candle in the wind' for each of those whose lives have been touched by such an uncaring disease. For cancer touches not just the victim but all those who love and are in anyway touched by them.
Be prepared for a story of romance and anger, excitement and humor, and friendship and bravery for that is the direction we are led as Green develops the personality of a group of teens that have the courage to bring both laughter and tears. The stories that encircle each individual give you a glimpse of the character and daring as well as abiding hope. Hidden within that strength they also hide the depression and hopelessness as they try hard to protect their family and friends by showing only the smiles and strength whenever possible.
Written so beautifully your heart and emotions melt, you come to be a part of this group as well as their families, their triumphs, and their losses. The friendships as well as the depths the families go through preparing for the worst while holding out hope is like a beacon of light.
The courage and humor, the energy and despair all keep you on a roller coaster of emotion. Green takes you on a journey both terrible and beautiful.
While a difficult book to categorize I found it to be one of the most important finds of the last few years. Green shines a light on cancer in a way that sends a tremor of intent awareness, an incandescent monument to those that have both won and lost the fight, as well as the damage done to those closest. The story blasts away the veil of secrecy and hooks you from the very beginning.

2) It enthralls, entertains and educates and offers a jumping off point for young people to explore and discuss important philosophical issues. And yes, I did get something in my eye at the end. But it was totally dust'
John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
John Green is possibly the most renowned author of Young Adult Fiction currently operating. His most well known book so far is probably this one, The Fault In Our Stars. The basis of the story is that a girl named Hazel who has cancer meets a boy named Augustus who she falls in love with. The two of them try to deal with cancer, love, and books. It's your average boy meets girl, girl has cancer, boy and girl talk about how a fictional book ends book. The whole story is beautifully written and is just breathtaking. The metatextual elements with references to the fictional book which the two are both a fan of (An Imperial Affliction) have a very Third Policeman–esque vibe to it, which, as a great fan of The Third Policeman was very enjoyable. I thought the plot was wonderful, the characters were absolutely believable and you do completely fall in love with them. Hazel and Augustus are fantastically drawn and the voice of them both is very funny and very well done. It is not a sick lit novel, despite having many of the trappings associated with the genre, it is a story about two people in love, one of whom has cancer. It also has a certain philosophical bent in which it discusses the meaning of life and death.
Of course, I cannot talk about The Fault In Our Stars without mentioning the brilliant film adaptation. Despite what the Guardian film critic might say (apologies Guardian, but you are for once wrong about this. Stick to politics and children's books next time and stay away from films) it is equally as brilliant as the book and, in my opinion, enhances the novel which very few films do. For me, the novel and book are now as one, each dependent on the other. Augustus will always be Ansel Elgort and Peter Van Houten will always be that guy who I thought was John Hurt but wasn't and then realised was in The Life Aquatic. Or Willem Dafoe for short.
I would recommend that everyone reads this book. It is beautiful, enthralling, funny and just fantastic. It shows how a short life can still be an infinity, even if it is a lesser one. It enthralls, entertains and educates and offers a jumping off point for young people to explore and discuss important philosophical issues.
And yes, I did get something in my eye at the end.
But it was totally dust.
Totally.

3) How It All Goes Down
Here's the whole sordid tale. Dying girl meets hot boy. Hot boy and dying girl fall in teenage love and go on adventures to Amsterdam together. Dying girl is disappointed by her meeting with a certain author whom she idolizes. Dying girl and hot boy admit their love to each other and have physical relations. In a horrible twist of fate, dying girl lives while hot boy dies. The end.
Confused and a little intrigued? Don't worry about it—we'll go a little slower (and add a little detail) to make the summary just a bit more palatable and easy to follow.
We open up the story with Hazel Grace, who is your average teenager except for the little fact that she's got all sorts of cancer inside her body and her lungs aren't working very well.
Hazel is in Support Group one day when a new boy catches her eye. Well, to be accurate, they catch one another's eyes. Soon enough, she and Augustus (aforementioned hot boy) are flirtatious friends and talk to each other about everything. Hazel shares her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, with Augustus, and together they obsess about the unsolved ending. Augustus manages to somehow get through to the author and when Hazel emails him, he invites her to come to Amsterdam to discuss the ending of the book. A fan's dream come true.
In the meantime, Augustus and Hazel's good friend Isaac is losing his eye (the only one he has left) so that he can be cancer-free at long last. In the process though, he also loses his girlfriend Monica, who can't "deal" with having a blind boyfriend. Yeah, we think she's a little superficial too, but whatever.
So Augustus surprises Hazel by telling her that he still has his wish (the "Wish" that they grant to dying children) from when he had cancer and lost his leg, and he'd happily use it to take her to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten, reclusive author of An Imperial Affliction. Ah, true romance. Hazel of course, is over the moon about the whole idea, but first she has to convince her hovering, worried parents and her skeptical doctors.
Eventually, they manage to get their trip in order and take off into the great unknown with Hazel's mother in tow. They go to Amsterdam and have beautiful and romantic times, but when they meet Peter Van Houten, it doesn't exactly go as planned. First of all, he's a mean drunk. Second of all... well actually, no, that's totally it. He's just a mean drunk and doesn't answer any of Hazel's questions. Hazel is angry and upset, but Van Houten's assistant Lidewij takes her and Augustus out to explore Amsterdam. They see Anne Frank's house, where things are kind of redeemed because she and Augustus finally kiss. Ooh la la. They go back to the HOTEL ROOM and even steamier things happen. Yowza.
Augustus then drops a bomb: his cancer has returned. This is very, very bad. When they return to Indianapolis, it's clear that Augustus's health is deteriorating and he might not have much time left. In a heartbreaking scene, Hazel and Isaac even share the eulogies that they wrote for him. Throughout it all, Hazel is there with Augustus, until the very end.
When he dies, Hazel is shocked and filled with grief. At his funeral, though, she gives a different eulogy than the one she had written him. Why? Well, she realizes that she needs to deliver something that's tailored to his parents, who are the ones suffering now (not him).
At the funeral, she's shocked to see that Peter Van Houten is there. She talks to him and realizes that he wrote An Imperial Affliction because he had a daughter who died of cancer. She's no closer to liking Van Houten as a person, but she understands a little more why he's so tortured and crotchety. She also learns from Isaac that Augustus was writing something for her before he died. She proceeds to go on a kind of crazy search for what he's written, which she thinks might be the alternate ending to An Imperial Affliction that she wanted so badly. She also learns that her mother is taking classes to become a Support Group leader, and is relieved that there will be life for her parents after she dies.
At the very end, she learns from Lidewij that Augustus wrote her a eulogy that he sent to Van Houten. The book ends with her reading the eulogy, which states that he hopes that she's happy with the choices she made.
Hazel says that yes, she is happy.

4)Parents need to know that The Fault in Our Stars is a story about teens fighting cancer, and sensitive readers might be uncomfortable with the subject matter and sometimes graphic descriptions of what it's like to die. Hazel has some near-death experiences and also copes with Gus as he vomits uncontrollably, etc. Characters lose eyes, legs, control of their personalities, and more. Also, characters play violent video games and read books and watch movies with high body counts. There's some swearing and drinking, and the two main characters, who are in love, do have (safe) sex, though it's described only briefly. This is a mature and powerful story: Hazel not only provides teens with insight about what it is like to know you're dying -- and to lose someone you love -- but her story is also about deciding to love and be loved, even when you know it will cause pain.

5) The Fault in Our Stars

Author John Green
Cover artist Rodrigo Corral
Country United States
Language English
Genre
Young adult novel
Realistic fiction
Publisher Dutton Books
Publication date
January 10, 2012
Media type Print (hardcover, paperback)
Pages 313
The Fault in Our Stars is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012. The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel Grace Lancaster, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. The title is inspired from Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." A feature film adaptation of the novel directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff was released on June 6, 2014.[1]

6)Hazel is just full of opinionated treasures. Hazel is quick-witted, well-spoken, and snarky to boot. Take her thoughts on the Encouragements scattered all around Augustus' house:
This is an old argument in the field of Thinking About Suffering, and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries, but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate... "A lovely thought." (2.97)
Not only does this passage showcase her witty turns of phrase, it also gives us an idea of why she talks like she does, why she tells it like it is. Hazel obviously thinks that trite phrases (like the Encouragements) are just stupid. That means you can be sure she'll never write like that. And we don't know about you, but we much prefer snarky to trite.
Plus, Hazel's writing is easy to follow because it's written in a conversational way; as if we're sitting down talking to a close friend. And that makes us feel like we really know Hazel.

Point of View
The novel is written in the first-person point of view from the perspective of the main character, Hazel Grace Lancaster. The point of view of this novel is intimate, allowing a reader to connect closely with the main character, Hazel. The book written in this manner allows the reader to get inside Hazel's head, thoughts and inner struggles. The reader cares about the narrator. This point of view also allows the author to inject his own opinions into the narration and to expand on the events taking place around the other characters and the occurrences taking place.

This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (author).

The Fault in Our Stars is a novel by author John Green. The story follows the main character, Hazel Grace Lancaster, as she battles cancer. Not only is Hazel trying to live the normal life of a 16-year-old girl, but she is also struggling with what it will be like for her parents after she dies. While Hazel attends a church support group for cancer survivors, she meets a boy that is one year older than her, Augustus Waters. While Augustus had a type of cancer that causes him to lose his leg and wear a prosthetic, it also has a survival rate that is much higher than Hazel's death sentence.

From the first day that Hazel meets Augustus, the two are practically inseparable. The basis of their relationship ends up being Hazel's favorite book, An Imperial Affliction. She requires Augustus to read it and in turn, he requires her to read the book that is the basis of his favorite video game. Hazel relates to the character in her favorite book, Anna, because Anna has a rare blood cancer. Augustus and Hazel bond over the book because both of them of a burning desire to find out how the story ends because the author stops the book before providing conclusion on what happens to each of the characters.

Augustus joins Hazel's pursuit of the book's author, Peter Van Houten, to provide the answers that they need. Augustus even uses a wish foundation to fly him and Hazel to Amsterdam, where the author lives, to talk with him in person. While Hazel is the one that is doomed to die, Augustus ends up telling Hazel that at his recent scan, the doctors discovered that his entire body is filled with cancer. Hazel spends the last months of Augustus's life caring for him and loving him.
6
other books :
Looking for Alaska (2005) (
An Abundance of Katherines (2006)
Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances – with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle (2008
Paper Towns (2008)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson – with David Levithan -0)
The Fault in Our Stars (2012