"Sometimes you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book." - "The Fault in our Stars"

If that name isn't familiar then as soon as you stop reading this you need to go to the bookstore and purchase one of his books. John Green is an author of some of the best young adult books around. You may have even seen those works turn into movies such as "The Fault in our Stars" and "Paper Towns."

I remember the first time I read his work. I was walking and saw this beautiful cover that was all black and it just had the smoke from a cigarette on the front. I recognized the title because I was on Tumblr a few weeks before and this quote caught my eye..

"Just like that. From a hundred miles an hour to asleep in a nanosecond. I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together, in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane." - "Looking for Alaska"

I thought it was beautiful to hear a guy talk about a girl that way. As If she was the most fascinating thing on the planet. I'm gonna tell you something about this book. It's the best I have ever read. I don't know if I just read it at the right time in my life or what. I was so shocked by the way that these teenagers were portrayed. It didn't feel as if an adult was trying to write as a teenager, not at all.

That's the biggest thing about John Green is he believes in young adults not as stupid teenagers but as people who can go through some pretty intense experiences. He has been called "The Teen Whisperer."

There is a quote in "Looking for Alaska" that says, "When adults say, 'Teenagers think they are invincible' with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail."

Adults have this idea that teens do stupid things because we don't believe anything hurts us. Teenagers can take in all this hurt and pain but they still know they have this life to live so they fight through it. They think they can overcome it all.

Anytime I talk about "Looking for Alaska," I can go on for hours. I fell in love with this book and characters like I would with a human. I felt so emotionally invested into this book that I reread it like I look at old photographs. I treat it as a piece of me from a time in my life. It wasn't that anything in the book happened to me but I didn't feel as if my struggles were dumb anymore. I felt that there was an author, a smart adult, that understood how crippling teenage years can be. How affected I could be by the things happening. Yes I look back and I overreacted but it was happening in that moment and the pain was real. His books don't let you feel stupid but understood.

"You are helpful, and you are loved, and you are forgiven, and you are not alone."
- John Green

All of his books I have read have made me feel secure in my emotions and reactions. I hope you take the time to read one and make it your favorite book.

To John Green,

I want to thank you for never backing down to speak your mind. In your books and on your YouTube channel. I hope that schools stop banning "Looking for Alaska" and I hope one day we get the rights back so we can see this story on the screen. For now though I am glad that it is still untouched. I'm thankful to have a book so close to my heart and I hope to pass it down in the future.

To The Readers,

Here are some of my favorite John Green books for those you have read and those who haven't.

"Just remember that sometimes, the way you think about a person isn’t the way they actually are."

"You like someone who can’t like you back because unrequited love can be survived in a way that once-requited love cannot."

"It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world."

"True love will triumph in the end—which may or may not be a lie, but if it is a lie, it’s the most beautiful lie we have."

"You can love someone so much…But you can never love people as much as you can miss them."

"Maybe there’s something you’re afraid to say, or someone you’re afraid to love, or somewhere you’re afraid to go. It’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt because it matters."

"What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?