Melissa+survival

__**An Abundance of Katherines** by //John Green//__ This story is told in first person by Colin Singleton, a recent high school graduate who has been dumped by his girlfriend, Katherine. She also happens to be the 19th Katherine to dump him. Colin only dates girls named Katherine, not Catherine, or Kathy or Kat, **Katherine.** After this devastating break up, Colin's best friend Hassan takes him on a roadtrip. They end up in a town called Gutshot and there they meet Lindsey Lee Wells who takes them to see the alleged Archduke Franz Ferdinand. They end up working for her mother and Colin, who was a child prodigy, begins to create a formula that will predict how long a relationship will last. He applies it to every Katherine he ever dated. While he's doing this he's also hanging out with Hassan, Lindsey, Lindsey's boyfriend Colin (They refer to him as T.O.C. The Other Colin.), learning about Gutshot and what it means to everyone. As he drives around with Hassan and Lindsey interviewing town people he anagrams words. That's Colin's skill. He is dealing with the fact that he was a child prodigy yet he hadn't done anything that mattered and he hadn't accomplished anything at age 18. He struggles to understand that he's standing still in a world that is rushing around him. By the end of the novel Colin finds he doesn't need a Katherine and he doesn't need to 'matter'. It's a funny, touching, and complex story about a guy who just doesn't know what his purpose is with friends who try to help him figure it out. __**What this book taught me on survival:**__ Seeing as how i am to graduate in just 7 months, i can totally understand how Colin feels. I don't know what I"m meant to do after high school and i havent accomplished anything to be recognized. It's hard to have expectations placed on you, yet meet absolutely none of them. While Colin was trying to figure out a formula for relationships he was also learning about himself and the people he was with the whole book. He didn't have a lot of friends in high school, he had Hassan and whatever Katherine he was with. When he gets to Gutshot he becomes friends with Lindsey and the unexpected happens, he starts to listen to her. He listens to what she has to say and she begins to shape a brand new Colin. This book showed me just how helpful friends can be to get through a difficult time. Hassan lifts Colin off of his bedroom floor after Katherine dumps him and takes him on a roadtrip to heal him. Lindsey changes Colin's views on different things and helps him get over Katherine. Friends matter more than most anyone else in the world. They shape who you are and they help you overcome the things you can't overcome alone.

reviewed 11/15 dlj 50 points PS: I believe you HAVE accomplished something valauble to be recognized...and that is as an excellent reader, reviewer of literature...and I've seen you with your freinds...you are a most trusted and well-liked person...that is a most valuable recognition!

This book seems different from the other books read in this class. Its not exactly a love story or a story about something horrible that happened to someone. It all seems very down to earth and plausible. I think I'd like to read it one day. ~ Mary