June 13, 2016

On My Bookshelf: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

In An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Colin has been just been dumped by his 19th Katherine when his best friend decides to take him on a road trip to help him forget his woes. Bromance and romance full of mathematical problems, historical references, word puzzles, and footnotes ensues. Read on for more of my review and ideas for classroom use.
The basic plot: Colin has two things going on, or going wrong in his life. He has been dumped by another Katherine and as a child prodigy, hasn't done anything to take him to the genius level.

To cheer him up, Colin's best friend Hassan takes him on a road trip to Kentucky where they meet Lindsey, who is dating The Other Colin, and her mother Hollis, who owns a factory, the town's main source of employment.

Hollis hires the two to help Lindsey with interviewing the town's natives and as Colin tries to create an equation predicting the length of relationships, sparks fly in all directions.

Why I liked it: An Abundance of Katherines is the third John Green book I have read, and is my least favorite so far (The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska were better).

That said, I do like the portrayal of Colin and Hassan's friendship. The two are intelligent, nerdy, funny, and kind to each other. You don't see that so often in male friendships.

In An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Colin has been just been dumped by his 19th Katherine when his best friend decides to take him on a road trip to help him forget his woes. Bromance and romance full of mathematical problems, historical references, word puzzles, and footnotes ensues. Read on for more of my review and ideas for classroom use.
Classroom application: Your female students, hopeless romantics, and nerdy boys will like it. The main character is a fountain of knowledge of math, history, science, etc.

As with most novels, it could be used to teach plot, characterization, theme, etc.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of An Abundance of Katherines for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

4 yorum:

  1. I've always wanted to read this book, but now I'm reconsidering it.

    Have you read The Teacher Wars? It is really interesting so far.

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  2. Lauralee,

    The main character just got on my nerves and it is hard to get past that, at least for me.

    I haven't read that, but will see if I can get it on my Kindle. Thanks for the recommendation!

    Brynn Allison
    The Literary Maven

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  3. Hi Brynn!
    It's Myranda from Keep Calm and Teach 5th Grade! I love your bookshelf background! I just want to wish you luck on your phone interview! If it helps at all, I got my job via phone interview while I was away. So...perhaps it's a good luck charm of sorts! Have a blast on vacation!

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  4. Hi Brynn!

    My name is Meagan, and I just read my first John Green books this year with my English III students. Some groups read Looking for Alaska and some read Paper Towns, and I read both! You mentioned not liking An Abundance as Katherines as much as Looking for Alaska, so I was wondering if you like that one or not. I wasn't crazy about it, but a lot of my kids loved it!

    Thanks for sharing your review!

    https://stretcheddimensions.wordpress.com/

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