- Summary: Hazel Lancaster has cancer. Her life isn’t normal or enjoyable at this point in her treatments. But suddenly, at her children’s cancer group meeting, her world is rocked by the entrance of Augustus Waters. Although Augustus is also a cancer patient, they quickly fall in love. Hazel is obsessed with a book that involves a little girl dying from cancer and her one wish is to meet the author, Van Houten, and ask him questions. Augustus uses his Make a Wish to get her to Amsterdam, but her dream is quickly crushed because the author has no interest in answering her. Over the course of their relationship, Augustus becomes more ill as his cancer returns. Soon, Augustus dies. But his love and life has taught Hazel so much about life and why everything is worth it. At Augustus’ funeral, Van Houten shows up. He reveals that the book Hazel is so obsessed with is based on the cancer and loss of his own daughter. This helps her understand his anger.
- Textbook: A criticism of this novel has been the idea that the teenagers don’t mirror actual teenagers when it comes to their intellect, knowledge, and how they handle having cancer. But, I completely disagree. Hazel, August, and their friend Isaac, although all suffering from things not every teenager suffers from, their way of handling these conditions shows their maturity. To assume that “normal” teenagers can’t be mature or intellectual is cutting them short. Instead, I see these characters as clearly representing a niche in the teenage world, a niche that includes young people who have to deal with very adult things at a young age. This realistic piece of fiction also deals with an area of our society that people don’t openly talk about: childhood cancer. Green is able to discuss the realities of the disease without making it seem like he is simply being sympathetic.
Green, J. (2014). The fault in our stars. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
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