Everyone has something that keeps them together. Whether that's your favorite movie, a best friend, your family, or even your work, it seems like everyone has that one thing that will always stay a positive constant in their lives. My thing is John Green. John Green the Best Selling Author and half of Vlogbrother's channel on Youtube.
My sophomore year of high school, I was going through a tough, anxious time. I was stuck in a rut. That is until a classmate introduced me to this book I had never heard of—Looking For Alaska.
"It's the same guy that wrote The Fault in Our Stars," she said.
I was cautiously optimistic and curious about the strange "Before and After" format of the book. I was falling in love with his writing style as quickly as I fell in love with the characters. I won't give away any spoilers, but this book helped me to get to know a part of myself that I didn't know even existed. I was struck by some of the lines he included and felt that he, like all great authors, captured the way I was feeling in a way that I never could. As an angst ridden teen, I had a lot of feelings and no words to let them out, let alone anyone I could talk to about them. John Green, Alaska, and Pudge became the friends I needed. I read my copy over and over and still have it sitting on my bookshelf in my student apartment now that I'm in college. It sits there next to my other favorite titles that have helped me to become who I am.
A little piece of me identified with every character in every John Green I have read. I felt like Margo Roth Spiegelman in Paper Towns, I knew Colin from An Abundance of Katherines as a part of myself, and I felt like I understood Will Grayson, Will Grayson on a level no one else could.
I started to realize he had authored all of my favorite books—what kind of man was this? I imagined a 50-something guy with his life figured out who was somewhere in Maine writing out all of his insight he never got to give his children. What I found was much different. I found an community of a bunch of people who felt the same way I did. "Nerdfighteria." I spent the better half of one summer in high school watching years worth of Youtube videos between the Green Brothers. I found one titled "What to do with your life." In three minutes and twenty-three seconds, John Green made me feel like a totally different person.
(You can watch that video here.)
I still watch every new Vlogbrother's video and reread Looking For Alaska when I need a little inspiration. I recently got my first tattoo to help me remember what that felt like.
You can also read a synopsis or purchase any of the above books here: http://www.johngreenbooks.com/books
