An Abundance of Katherines

Bibliography
Green, John. An Abundance of Katherines. New York: Dutton Books, 2006. Print.
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My Thoughts
Last summer I read two of John Green's books (Fault in our Stars and Looking for Alaska). John Green became my "go to" author recommendation for the school year (and gave me a little "street cred" with my teens!).

Green did not disappoint me with this novel. It is witty and full of memorable characters. Colin Singleton is a prodigy. He speaks eleven languages. He creates anagrams and memorizes things he reads. "It wasn't just that things interested him because he didn't know from boring--it was the connection his brain made, connections he couldn't help but seek out" (Green 92). Because of this, he only has one real friend, Hassan. After being dumped by Katherine XIX, Colin and Hassan take off on a road trip in hopes of Colin getting over being dumped. They end up in Gutshot, Tennessee where they meet Lindsey and Hollis Wells. The Wells own the local textile factory and hire the two boys to record the stories of the locals. As the stories unfold, Colin works on his Theorem. This will be a mathematical calculation of his relationships with all of the Katherines. However, there is a flaw. Once Colin figures out the missing piece, he creates a "perfect" Theorem of relationships. Will this be enough to make Colin matter to the world?

Some parts of the book were predictable (no spoilers here). I absolutely loved the footnotes of random facts that Green includes. These notes add to Colin's character. He is a little weird and including the weird footnotes works. Plus, I always enjoy knowing random things that seemingly have no connection, yet they really do. My brain sometimes works the same way.

I laughed out loud several times reading this story. When Colin and Hassan go on the hog hunt (which was a funny episode), Hassan explains why the "whole world is turned upside down" because "It's like we're in a snow globe and God decided he wanted to see a blizzard so he shook us" (Green 166). I've thought this, too.