Genre 6 - Fiction, Fantasy, and Young Adult Literature
"Read one Printz award or honor book:"
Plot Summary
Colin has just broken up with his nineteenth girlfriend named Katherine. His friend Hassan steps in and insists on a road trip to cheer him up and get him past the depression associated with the heartbreak. Guided serendipitously by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the boys end up in the small town of Gutshot, Tennessee. Through coincidence and injury the boys meet Lindsey Lee Wells, the daughter of the local factory owner. Her mother, Hollis, puts the boys to work recording the oral histories of the local residents. Through their summer employment, road trip adventures, and the relationships formed in Gutshot, the boys discover more about themselves and find a greater purpose in life than they started with.Critical Analysis
When this story first picks up, it feels like it's going to be a road trip story of the two boys' adventures. However, once they are waylaid in Gutshot, a much deeper story emerges.Characters drive the plot of An Abundance of Katherines. The relationships that develop between the characters is what pushes each of them forwards in their plot line. Anyone who has felt the heartache of a breakup can relate to Colin's situation. And since Colin has gone through it 19 times, he is an expert on the situation. The exploration of that recovery from heartbreak is a valuable element of this novel.
By the end of the novel, the realization hits that there's more to making something of oneself than romantic relationships. The boys begin to realize this through their summer employment, and girls simply become a side interest. The reader is brought along to this realization as well.
Personally, what stuck with me from the novel weeks later was the mathematical fervor which Colin expressed in his quest for a theorem to define all of his relationships and his fascination with anagramming.
Connections
- Find out more about...
- oral histories
- mathematical relationship formulas
- the name katherine
- Archduke Franz Ferdinand
- rural communities
- textile factories
- anagrams
- child prodigies
Awards/Reviews
Nominated for 2007 Michael L. Printz awardFrom Voices of Youth Advocates:
This sweet and earnest follow-up to Green's Printz Award-winning Looking for Alaska (Dutton, 2005/VOYA April 2005) tackles many of the same themes-love, friendship, memory-with a lighter touch. Colin, Hassan, and Lindsey Lee are well-drawn, memorable characters, and the friendship between the boys is both touching and hilarious. Dialogue and plot flow together beautifully, enlivened by foreign languages, equations, and expository footnotes. It also includes an entertaining appendix explaining the theorem. Despite some weak points, most notably the odd side plot involving Hollis and the textiles company, it is an enjoyable, thoughtful novel that will attract readers interested in romance, math, or just good storytelling. It is highly recommended for public and high school libraries.-Lorraine Squires.From Publishers Weekly:
It's not much of a plot, but Green's three companionable main characters make the most of it. Colin's epiphany he can't predict the future but he can reinvent himself, maybe even date a girl not named Katherine is pretty basic, but the intelligent humor that will make many readers eager to go along with him and Hassan for the ride.From School Library Journal:
This novel is not as issue-oriented as Green's Looking for Alaska (Dutton, 2005), though it does challenge readers with its nod to postmodern structure. ... The narrative is self-consciously dorky, peppered with anagrams, trivia, and foreign-language bons mots and interrupted by footnotes that explain, translate, and expound upon the text in the form of asides. It is this type of mannered nerdiness that has the potential to both win over and alienate readers. As usual, Green's primary and secondary characters are given descriptive attention and are fully and humorously realized. While enjoyable, witty, and even charming, a book with an appendix that describes how the mathematical functions in the novel can be created and graphed is not for everybody. The readers who do embrace this book, however, will do so wholeheartedly.-Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, BostonFrom Booklist:
The idea behind the book is that everyone's story counts, and what Colin's contributes to the world, no matter how small it may seem to him, will, indeed, matter. An appendix explaining the complex math is "fantastic," or as the anagrammatically inclined Green might have it, it's enough to make "cats faint." --Cindy DobrezFrom Kirkus:
Colin's wit, anagrams and philosophical quest for order combine with Lebanese Hassan's Muslim heritage and stand-up comedy routines to challenge the macho posturing of local youth, who are friends of Lindsey, the daughter of their hostess. ... Relationships develop, as does Colin, whom Lindsey somehow manages to teach how to tell a story, a skill truly lacking earlier. Sustaining the mood of giddy fun and celebratory discovery, Green omits the dark moments and bleak tragedy of his Printz Award–winning debut, Looking for Alaska (2005). There are tender tearful moments of romance and sadness balanced by an ironic tone and esoteric footnotes along with complex math. Fully fun, challengingly complex and entirely entertaining.
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