Letting expectations go and allowing love in are at the heart of Colin’s hilarious quest to find his missing piece and avenge dumpees everywhere.

Customer Reviews Average rating - 4.5

Rating - 4 Date: 2009-01-05
Content: Picking up a book by John Green is a guaranteed treat; you know you are going to become friends with a host of teens who will make you laugh, make you think, and make you recognize yourself in them. An Abundance of Katherines is no exception, and it's a fun ride from the first pages.

Colin Singleton is a child prodigy who wants to make his mark in the world and prove that he really is the genius everyone's expected him to be. To that end, he's working on a Theorem that will predict how relationships will go, and he has the experience to draw from: Colin has dated 19 girls, all of them have dumped him, and all of them have been named Katherine. So when Katherine #19 dumps him, Colin's best friend Hassan talks him into a road trip designed to clear Colin's head so he can focus. What they actually find, however, is Gutstop, Tennessee, and a girl named Lindsey who is perfectly happy to remain there for the rest of her life. After striking up a friendship with Lindsey, her mother invites the boys to stay in Gutshot and work for her for the summer. What follows is a series of interviews, hornets, new girlfriends, a fight, and a secret hiding place as the boys learn more about themselves than they'd figured they ever would.

Green is a terrific author who knows just how to enliven a story with humor and then bring it back to the original concept subtly. I loved that Green didn't make all the Tennesseans seem like simple-minded hicks (being from Tennessee, this is a particular irritation of mine). Green is obviously a very smart man, and I loved the footnotes that explained the languages used and gave fascinating details about the conversations. My ability to imagine one boy falling for nineteen Katherines was sorely stretched, though; it was the one point of the book that kept sticking me and pulling me out of the story. But other than that, I laughed and enjoyed this book tremendously, and I would give it a solid 4.5 stars. Recommended for readers of all ages who love a good road trip tale.
Summary: An Abundance of Fun

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-12-06
Content: This book was wonderfully witty, and I very much enjoyed reading it. John Green is a great author with much potential.
Summary: An Awesome Read

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-11-10
Content: My grandson thoroughly enjoyed this book. He said it made him laugh a lot and he read it all in one gulp and his stomach felt good at the end.
Summary: Laughter

Rating - 4 Date: 2008-11-02
Content: This audio book was recommended by a cyber-buddy. It was really a fun read.

About the book: Green's eccentric narrative follows the exploits of Colin Singleton, a fading prodigy whose hobbies include making anagrams, dating girls whose names are Katherine, and coming up with mathematical equations that explain why said Katherines have dumped him. After "Katherine the Nineteenth" breaks his heart, Colin and his best friend go on a road trip that lands them in Gutshot, Tennessee. Jeff Woodman delivers a solid narrative voice brimming with enthusiasm and energy. He embodies Colin by vocalizing his frustration and aimlessness while also executing great personalities and accents for the various characters Colin encounters. Woodman's smooth, animated tone produces an engaging atmosphere for this amusing novel.

This book, although a fun read, would be far more enjoyable to teens I am sure. Great narrative, memorable characters, but just not much of a story. It did make walking fun though, and any book that does that for me, can't be a bad book.

Summary: Fun Audio Book

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-09-24
Content: John Green is a talented story teller. His teenagers are complex and real, and the issues they grapple with are not of your average bubble-gum variety. He makes me interested in the people and hooks me on their stories. He's witty, too. This book made me laugh out loud in places.
Summary: An Abundance of Katherines