The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

I never, ever take for granted that I chose a profession where I get to talk about books ALL OF THE TIME. (Grateful!)

One of my co-workers told me about a novel that he is reading with his students called The Fault In Our Stars. He told of how the students chose this book to read and how much he and his students enjoyed this book.

Well, two days ago I started reading this novel, and last night, I read it until I could not stay awake any longer. I really wanted to read longer, but my body would not cooperate. (This is a good book!)

This novel is a modern day coming of age story. One of the protagonist, Hazel, is a sixteen year old girl who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of thirteen. She doesn't want to get close to people, because she does not want to hurt them by dying. However, she meets this guy named Gus, whose cancer is in remission, and they fall in love.

This novel has all of the mushy stuff that goes with teenage love, but it has that serious element that deals with death.

Reading this novel, I thought a lot about cancer, death, and my dear friend Carolyn who died of cancer earlier this year and my friend Patty who beat breast cancer and allowed me to tell her story on this blog... Cancer Sucks!

I thought about the strength that it must take for a person to have cancer and to continue to fight. My friend Carolyn sent an email once that stated that "Cancer is relentless, and so am I." I use to suggest that she read a book or listen to books on tape in order to get her mind off of cancer, and she stated "When you have cancer, cancer is all that is on your mind."

This novel gives a look into what the life of person may be like who has cancer. Hazel's life and the life of her family were completely altered by cancer. Because Hazel's cancer was terminally, death was literally lurking everywhere.

Reading this book, I thought about all of the ideas that a teacher could explore with students, and I hurried to school to share those ideas with my coworker who is currently teaching this novel.

My people, make the most of this day and everyday, because DEATH is lurking everywhere.

John Green

Next, I am going to reread The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho. This may be a journey you should take with me!

Enjoy this Day!