An Abundance of Katherines

Green, John, An Abundance of Katherines, Dutton Books, 2006, 227pg.

Summary: The plot in this funny novel centers on Colin Singleton and his mission to develop and prove the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. Colin Singleton is a prodigy, but not a genius. Colin Singleton has had 19 relationships. All of them have been with girls named Katherine. All of the relationships have ended with Colin getting dumped, except for one. After the last relationship comes to an end, Colin’s best friend Hassan decides that the cure for Colin’s broken heart is a road trip. The road trip ends abruptly in Gutshot, TN when a sign announcing the final burial spot of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is located there. This seemingly short pit stop to check out a local landmark quickly changes into Colin and Hassan spending the summer. The owner of the local textile factory (which makes strings for Tampons, a great example of Green’s humor) hires Colin and Hassan to record local history from all the local residence of Gutshot, TN. All along the way Colin continues to work on his Theorem and convinces himself that he doesn’t like the factory owners daughter because well her name isn’t Katherine. As the summer progresses Colin, Hassan, and Lindsey (the daughter of the owner of the textile factory) transform themselves and figure out what it means to “matter”.

Evaluation: Like many of Green’s novels, this is a funny one. The fact that Colin finds it so serious that he only gets dumped by girls named Katherine cannot be overlooked as comical. This was my first book to read by Green and I really enjoyed it. I often found myself flipping to the appendix and reading the footnotes to learn more about how to solve the theorem. Even though all the silliness that Green writes, there is still a serious undertone that Colin is struggling with some issues of coming of age and becoming an adult. I would recommend this to most any young adult, boys and girls, and I can see why it was a Printz Honor book.

Annotation: If I was Colin I would stay far away from anybody named Katherine because he will fall in love with her and she will dump him. It is just science.

Significance of Book: This book is unique in the way that it uses science throughout with the creation of the theorem. The use of footnotes and bell curves add a real special aspect to this funny novel about young love.

Genre/subject: fiction, humorous, relationships, science

Awards:

National:

• ALA Popular Paperbacks: 2009
• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2007
• Booklist Editor's Choice: 2006
• Horn Book Fanfare: 2006
• Michael L. Printz Honor: 2007

State:

· Illinois: Lincoln Award Nominees: 2010

· Indiana: Eliot Rosewater Award Nominees: 2010

Why I selected the book: I chose this book based upon some recommendations by a couple of young adult librarians. From that point forward I decided to read all of Green’s works for class.

Price: $16.99