2014 Community Read Book is Here!

by Anne Buckalew

Manchester District Library, along with other local libraries and 5 Healthy Communities, is participating in the 2014 Community Read. The Library is giving away free copies of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. You can get your own copy at the library (no library card required) and businesses around town. Read the book and pass it on, return it, or keep it.

The Fault in Our Stars is a widely appealing 2012 novel by John Green, a popular author of young adult fiction. As a movie, The Fault in Our Stars became an immediate box-office smash this summer, and will be available on DVD September 16. In both forms, this is a powerful narrative of human emotion. Burdened with the knowledge that life’s journey will be short, witty teens Hazel and Gus (young cancer patients who meet at a support group) explore what remains and find their own peace and reconciliation with fate.

Happily ever after is a fairy tale; The Fault in Our Stars is not. Green’s original inspiration for writing this book came from his time working as a student chaplain in a children’s hospital. His early intention was to write from the perspective of a witness. However, the viewpoint of a cancer patient is seldom written and with encouragement from those around him, Green decided to tell the story from Hazel’s point of view. Green’s style humanizes the experience of cancer and propels readers along this journey with a dose of humor and positive attitude that helps keep the difficult emotions palatable.

The Library hopes that everyone will have a chance to read this story and talk about it. There will be an all-ages discussion of this book on October 29, at 7pm in the Village Room.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.