Today’s review of the day is a title nominated for the Young Adult Fiction category: An Abundance of Katherines, by Printz-award winning author John Green. This review was cited by the author on his blog, where he called it "long and thoughtful (and nicely written, I think, although obviously I am biased because the review made me happy)". Who wrote such a review? Why, the kidlitosphere’s own
Little Willow, who blogs at Bildungsroman. Little Willow is a prolific reader of kids and young adult titles and a pentrating interviewer of authors. I especially enjoy her booklists, covering subjects from funny fiction to sassy sidekicks to tough issues for teens.
In her review of An Abundance of Katherines, Little Willow admits to having had high hopes for this title, but reports that "this book was as good as I expected – in a different way than I expected." She continues:
Colin Singleton used to be a prodigy. Used to be, because now he’s a recent high school graduate, and what means "gifted prodigy" at age 2 means simply "smart" at age 18. Not only that, but his girlfriend Katherine just dumped him. In his lifetime, Colin has dated 19 girls named Katherine – never Kathy, never Catherine, always Katherine – and been dumped by every single one.
Stuck in that between-time, between boy and man, between high school and college, and positively heartbroken, he goes on a road trip with his best (and only) friend, the blunt and unabashed Hassan. They end up in Carver County, Tennessee, in a little place called Gutshot. There, they meet a kind girl named Lindsey Lee Wells, and her mother, who opens her home to the two boys.
Colin wants to have a Eureka moment, to make an amazing discovery. He also wants something more personal: to matter. When he vocalizes this, things change for him. He changes. This means that when his Eureka moment does occur, it signifies something other than what he predicted. And that’s a good thing.
Read the full review here.