John Green: Star Author, Vlogbrother, and Nerdfighter

Reviewed by: Kara Reiman - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 15, 2015

Review

Braun has created a very basic biography of author and Internet sensation John Green. The book begins with Green's pre The Fault in Our Stars being published, establishing his popularity. Then it moves onto a more chronological order of his life, including his childhood struggles, his first forays into writing, his marriage, and finally into Vlogbrothers, Nerdfighters, and Don't Forget to be Awesome (DFTBA). Anyone familiar with John Green will likely already know this information, but it's a decent primer for those who are unfamiliar with him. The information shared is a bit strange for such a short book and the pictures included seem like a crutch to fill more space. Pictures of the author himself and his books are to be expected, but they also include pictures of authors he happens to like and random shots of a city that he happened to live in. The information seems a bit incomplete, as well. At one point it mentions that he had published 5 books prior to TFIOS, but nowhere in the book does it mention the 5th one. Back matter includes important dates, source notes, a selected bibliography, further reading, and an index. However, some of the references in the source notes and bibliography are far from academic, and would not be considered valid sources by some teachers.

Overall Book Score: fair