An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

 

Colin, let me be your non-Katherine :)

Synopsis of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green: When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy–loving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

My two cents

This is my first John Green read. Thank God for John Green, or the Young Adult genre would be overrun by vampires, paranormal activity, and the many faces of dystopia. This is a real story, a teen love story of two unlikely people. With a good friend thrown in for some extra kick. And a mathematical theorem begging to be proven (or disproven). No shiny vampires and no weird stuff going on.

Well, actually, the only weirdo is Colin who happens to have had only girlfriends named Katherine. His character is so nerdy, so awkward, and so endearing that I wish that an author like John Green was around when I was in high school; I would have been among those fangirling him, not that I can't. Anyway.

In the beginning I was wary. There was an overuse of the the word fuggin': why why why? Why does Colin have to be so smart, so nerdy -- am I becoming immune to the lure of these child prodigy stories? And why all these mathematical footnotes?

But I decided to relive my teenage years once again and went along for the ride. Nerdy loser Colin started to grow on me. Similarly Hassan, Colin's Lebanese best friend kept me laughing. Lindsay was so sassy that it hurt that I couldn't help but like her. Colin's quest to prove his theorem, The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, became all consuming. Teenage relationships are complicated and confusing. I rooted for all of them. I wanted them to be happy. I wanted to be young and in love and wallowing in my emotions all over again. This is what being a teenager is all about ...

Verdict: When the characters explained the origins of the fuggin' ... it's like a lightbulb went off in my head. I am so fuggin' happy to have read this. I am so enamoured with John Green. *Dingleberries!* I highly recommend this to teenagers for some clever, relatable, age-appropriate storytelling sans the bells and whistles and the predictability of much of today's YA lit.