An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Green, J.  (2006).  An abundance of katherines.  New York:  The Penguin Group.  228 pages, $8.99.

Colin Singleton doesn't want to be a washed-up prodigy.  He wants to matter, to do something that matters.  Will a road trip with his best friend Hassan help him get over his being dumped by Katherine?  Will he come up with something that will truly set him apart and enable him to do something that matters?

Colin, a recent high school graduate, has been in 19 relationships, and they've all been with girls named Katherine, and they've all broken up with him.  He is afraid of becoming a has-been child prodigy and wants to do something that matters and to make himself matter, so he goes on a road trip with Hassan, his best friend, to try to get over his break-up with his latest Katherine and to find and do something that'll make him matter and that matters to him.  He and Hassan find themselves in Gutshot, a small town in Tennessee, where they've been hired by Hollis to interview the people of Gutshot so that she can put together an oral history of the town.  Accompanied by Lindsey, Hollis' 17-year-old daughter, they interview the people of the town.  On his free time, Colin tries to come up with a theorem that'll predict how long a relationship will last and who will break up with whom in the relationship.  With help from Lindsey, he completes the theorem, and it works with all except one of his Katherines.  When he decides to call this Katherine to find out what exactly happened in their relationship, he discovers that he actually broke up with her; it was not the other way around.  It is then that he learns that things do not always turn out how you remember them.  Surprised and taken aback by his discovery, Colin realizes that life is what you make of it and what you do can matter to people even if it does not matter so much to you.  He also learns that he needs to open himself up to new experiences and possibilities.  He also understands that the people who matter the most will always be there and they are the people who are worth doing anything that matters. 

I initially read this book because my friend was interested in the theorem (she is a high school math teacher), so I thought it was going to be about math, but it was more about someone learning about themselves and about what is truly important in life.  On his road trip, I think Colin learned that it isn't so much the destination that is important but the journey to get there.  I think he learned about himself and to let people into his life and to open himself up to new opportunities and possibilities.  In this way, I think the title fits because he has known "an abundance of Katherines", and it is time to meet someone new.  It was interesting to see Colin realize this and know that he can't be so closed-minded to new possibilites.  The road trip turned out to be good for him.

This book was an honor book for the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature.  It was also an LA Times Book Prize finalist, and ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Horn Book Fanfare Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors' Choice, and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. 

Other books by John Green include Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns.  Visit John Green's website, http://www.johngreenbooks.com/ to learn more about him and to take a look at other books he's written.  You can also visit his video log at http://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers.