An Abundance of Katherines

Green, J. (2006). An Abundance of Katherines. New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Child prodigy Colin Singleton just graduated from high school, but instead of being happy, he is depressed because his girlfriend, Katherine, just dumped him.  He has been dumped by a total of nineteen Katherines.  His best friend, Hassan, wants to cheer him up and decides they need to take a road trip to get Colin's mind off his break-up.  Colin also feels like he will never matter because he is not doing anything significant.    After a couple days of traveling, while in Tennessee, they see a sign for the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which Colin wants to see.  They get off the interstate and travel to Gutshot, Tennessee, a tiny town, to see the grave.  When they arrive at the town's general store for the tour, they meet Lindsey Lee Well.   After the tour, they meet Lindsey's mom, Hollis, and Hollis recognizes Colin from a quiz show he won a year ago, KranialKid.  Hollis invites Colin and Hassan to dinner and they accept.  Lindsey and Hollis live in a huge pink house and Hollis is the owner of the town's factory that makes tampon strings.   At dinner, Hollis tells the boys that she wants to hire them for $500 per week and interview town members and record the history of the town. Colin and Hassan agree to stay.  Colin is also working on a mathematical theorem about his breakups with the nineteen Katherines. Colin and Hassan begin to interview people about the town's history and people that have worked at the factory, as well as current factory employees with the help of Lindsey.  They learn about the factory and town's past.  They also learn that everyone in the town loves Lindsey.   During this time, Colin and Hassan become friends with Lindsey.  Colin begins to also have feelings for her, but she has a boyfriend.  He is comfortable around her, and she can be her true self with him.  They begin to work on the theorem together.  One morning Colin and Hassan are invited to a hog hunt with some of Lindsey's friends.  Colin discovers that Lindsey's boyfriend is cheating on her.  After she breaks up with her boyfriend, then she can share her true feelings for Colin.  Through this time, Colin discovers that you can't predict the future and finally breaks his streak of girlfriends named Katherine.  

Young adults can relate to the theme of not always fitting in with the popular kids or being different from their peers.  This book shows that there are others that feel awkward and can't always be themselves around others.  Throughout the story, John Green uses humor as he shares the story of Colin and his heartbreak over the nineteenth Katherine.  YA readers will enjoy the footnotes the author shares about random trivial facts.  The book also includes a romantic love interest.  An  Abundance of Katherines was a Printz Honor book as well.  John Green is a New York Times best seller for The Fault in Our Stars.  He also has several YouTube channels such as Vlogbrothers and Crash Course.