The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

A Letter to John Green by Mirah Welday (mwelday)

For my review of The Fault in Our Stars I thought I would do something unconventional.  I decided to write a letter to author John Green about his book, who knows maybe he’ll one day get to read it.  If you’ve read the novel, what would you want to say to John Green?

Dear John Green,

The Fault in Our Stars is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I don’t care that I’m quite a bit older than your target reader audience; I loved your book and would recommend it to anyone, regardless of age. I worked at a residential high school for six years and developed an appreciation for the honesty expressed by the typical (in my experience) American teenager.  They have a way of acknowledging and verbalizing what adults think they should not say out loud because of social convention.  You have given voice to those teens in your book.  You have allowed them to stand up to cancer and death in their own way, not caring if their responses are considered irreverent by others’ standards. 

Death is a scary prospect for most of us, I think whether we want to admit it or not.  We don’t want to face leaving our loved ones or leaving our life with regrets or things left undone.  Thank you for sharing with us Augustus and Hazel, two teenagers who find love and a deeper understanding of themselves and the world in the face of death.  In spite of waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop at any time, they teach us not to give up on life when it appears it is already lost.  They are contemplative and sarcastic, yet understood and appreciated by one another for not sugar coating their circumstances.  Their honesty and spunk attracts them to one another and that attraction eventually transforms them into the support system the other is looking for and needing. I became so absorbed in their lives, I couldn’t put down your book; I felt a connection to your characters and laughed and cried with them.

Thank you for the beautifully written reminder that it is never too late to really live.  Whether we have years, months, days or hours, we can make choices so we can truly live in those moments.  Embracing every moment in our lives, in spite of illness or good health, is absolutely our choice and no one else’s.

With much appreciation,

Mirah Welday