Green knows this, but also knows how to save Hazel from the plight of the angsty, whiny, helpless protagonist too often seen recently (cough Bella Swan cough). I don't want to be too general or too harsh here, but we tend to over-exaggerate things that are actually insignificant, especially when it comes to relationships. It is guaranteed that all female teen readers will fall for Augustus, and while I can't assume anything about the male teen readers I'd go as far as to say that Hazel has a personality that any guy would be lucky to find in a potential wife/girlfriend/best friend. John Green is the master of teen romance novels, knowing exactly where, when, and how to tug heartstrings. I don't want to say that "The Fault in Our Stars" is the most romance I've had in my life in many months, but it's true. But first, because I read this book as a parent with all the anxiety and worry that that brings, I thought I'd get the perspective of an actual teenager, my daughter, who was able to read this book for what it truly is, a romance: However, if I am going to read a book about children with cancer, there is no other author's book I would choose to read than John Green's. For me, The Fault in Our Stars was a bit like living through 313 pages of one of my worst nightmares. If so, I think this book will really mean a lot to you or those you give it to. Maybe you know someone with cancer or have cancer yourself. So what do I have to add to the buzz surrounding this book? Maybe some of you reading this have never heard of John Green and will do your children or the children you work with a tremendous favor by introducing them to this remarkable author. These pre-ordering fans also prompted the publisher to push up the release date by four months and were rewarded by Green (myself included) with a signed copy. John Green is already an established, respected, award winning author with plenty of publicity and legions of fans, fans who pre-ordered this book in such massive numbers that it shot to the top of bestselling books at and Barnes & a matter of days after an official release date was announced, months from the actual publication date. As a mother, I struggled to read this book and I thought long and hard about whether or not I should even review it. TheAtlantic.In John Green's newest book, The Fault in Our Stars, the title taken from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves) the main character Hazel Grace Lancaster shares that the only thing worse than being a kid with cancer is having a kid with cancer. Hazel is a fictional character, and she is in many important ways very different from the person Esther was." Īuthor John Green also drew inspiration for the book from his time spent working as a student chaplain at a children's hospital. All that said, I really don't want to seem to be appropriating Esther's story, which belongs to her and to her family and not to me. But she was also silly and funny and totally normal.
"What inspired me most," says Green, "was Esther's unusual mix of teenagerness and empathy: She was a very outwardly focused person, very conscious of and attentive to her friends and family. "So much of the story was inspired by her and my friendship with her and my affection for her family and friends," says author John Green, "but I didn't take very many specific things (except for superficial stuff like the oxygen and whatnot)." Esther died of thyroid cancer on Augat age sixteen.
The Fault in Our Stars book and subsequent movie were inspired in part by Esther Earl (pictured above, right). In addition to helping break pre-sale movie ticket records for a romantic drama, fans have created The Fault in Our Stars t-shirts and artwork like the tee above.