Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is plenty of swearing and some references to sex, orgasm, and oral sex. Though the content is mild compared to many young adult novels, it is still best for those in high school and will be enjoyed most by kids who favor quirky, geeky characters.
Families who read this book could discuss Colin's central dilemma. What is the relationship between ability and achievement? Does one lead to the other? If not, why not? How can we make the most of our gifts? And what does it mean "to matter?"
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Up until the flat-footed finale, in which Colin's rather obvious and trite revelations and epiphanies are expounded at too-great length, this delightful exercise in geek-chic fairly hums along on the strength of three central characters who have not only failed to live up to their potential, they have no clue as to what their potential is.
Most unusual in American young adult literature is Hassan, an American Muslim of Lebanese descent, who is trying, in teenage humorous-slacker fashion, to stay more or less true to the tenets of his faith in a very secular world. Lindsay, the first non-Katherine Colin has ever liked, is smart and wise, but has decided her greatest ambition is to stay in Gutshot forever, where it's safe and predictable.
But mostly this is the story of Colin, who is painfully and clearly the author's alter-ego. Having grown up with the pressure of prodigy-hood, Colin is obsessed with minutiae -- anagrams, factoids, formulae -- as well as with his most recent breakup. In the voice of Hassan, author John Green turns in what may be the best explanation ever, not only of Colin, but of geeks in general, and most especially of himself: "Colin finds everything intriguing….it wasn't just that things interested him because he didn't know from boring -- it was the connections his brain made, connections he couldn't help but seek out."
This isn't for everyone. There's no plot to speak of, no action except for one fight, and reading it assumes at least a tolerance of, if not interest in, the things that interest Colin -- and the author. But for bright kids who like intriguing characters and intellectual play, it's lots of fun.
From The Book
For the next fourteen hours without pausing to eat or drink or throw up again, Colin read and reread his yearbook, which he had received just four days before. Aside from the usual yearbook crap, it contained seventy-two signatures. Twelve were just signatures, fifty-six cited his intelligence, twenty-five said they wished they'd known him better, eleven said it was fun to have him in English class, seven included the words "pupillary sphincter," and a stunning seventeen ended, "Stay Cool!" Colin Singleton could no more stay cool than a blue whale could stay skinny or Bangladesh could stay rich. Presumably, those seventeen people were kidding. He mulled this over -- and considered how twenty-five of his classmates, some of whom he'd been attending school with for twelve years, could possibly have wanted to "know him better." As if they hadn't had a chance.
Plot Summary:
Colin, former child prodigy, just-graduated high school valedictorian, just dumped by the nineteenth girl he has dated named Katherine (well, eighteenth really, one of them dumped him twice), is in a deep funk. He is worried that all of his early promise will add up to nothing, that he won't matter or ever have a "eureka" moment, and that his talents, for absorbing knowledge, working hard, languages, trivia, and anagrams, aren't really of any use at all in the real world.
His best friend, Hassan, a genial, if lazy, lout decides Colin needs a road trip. Soon they wash up in Gutshot, Tennessee, supposed final resting place of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, where they get a job recording oral histories from the town's residents. While there Colin works on what he sees as his last shot at mattering: a mathematical formula to predict the course of romantic relationships, The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. Includes an Appendix explaining the math behind the Theorem.
Related Books:
Other Books by John Green
Looking for Alaska
More Gifted Kids
S.O.R. Losers by Avi
What Hearts by Bruce Brooks
Hazel Rye by Vera and Bill Cleaver
The Child Buyer by John Hersey
(George) by E.L. Konigsburg
The Wrecker by David Skinner
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel
The Mighty (orig. Freak the Mighty) by Rodman Philbrick
The Landry News by Andrew Clements
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Story Time by Edward Bloor
Related Web Sites
Author's Site
Author's MySpace Page
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Sexual ContentNone described, but some hinted at; references to orgasm and oral sex, making out. |
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ViolenceA rather nasty fistfight. |
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LanguagePlenty of four-letter words, various euphemisms for the male organ. |
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Social BehaviorOne teen character is an American Muslim. |
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CommercialismFast food restaurants, Nicorette. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoBeer drinking, chewing tobacco. |
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