Questions about Other Writing and/or Radio Stuff
Q. Where can I find your book reviews?
A. You can search Booklist Online to find some of the hundreds of reviews I wrote for Booklist (or you can sign up for a membership and read them all). In the New York Times Book Review, I’ve reviewed The Book Thief, The Hunger Games, The Dead and the Gone, and Chris Raschka’s The Purple Balloon.
Q. How about your radio pieces?
A. For audio, you can search the web sites of NPR and WBEZ. You can find transcripts of my commentaries here on the site.
Q. Didn’t you used to write for mental_floss?
A. Yes! mental_floss is this wonderful trivia magazine founded by some hardcore nerds who truly believe in the power of making people smarter, and I love that magazine and their awesome web site and their books. In fact, I co-wrote (occasionally with my brother Hank) several of their books, including Cocktail Party Cheat Sheets, What’s the Difference?, Scatterbrained, and The Genius Instruction Manual.
Q. What was it like writing Let It Snow with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle?
A. It was so, so, so, so, so, so fun. I absolutely adore Maureen and Lauren, and we had a great time coming up with all the little threads that would weave through the story (like tin foil man). Writing “A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle” might have been the most fun I’ve ever had writing a story; I was inspired by Maureen to try to make it as zany as possible and inspired by Lauren to try to give it real heart.
Other questions about other writing I’ve done and/or radio stuff? Leave them in comments.
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
What are you working on now? You may not be able to disclose this, but.
Do you know of any good writer’s references for developing plots and/or characters? The ideas are all there, but I’m just stuck in general.
Try ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King. It’s a great inspiration for writers as well as a great source for advice on writing.
Not a question but…
I’ve read all your radio pieces and listened to the ones that are still there, and I loved them. I like the edgy, satirist side of you. Of course I am someone who loves pretty much all liberal satire. But still, you should get back on the radio. (But keep on writing books, books are the top priority)
will grayson is such an awesome book.
Hey John,
I am a 7th grade English teacher in that one northern suburb of Indianapolis I that I don’t like to admit I work in because people assume lots of things about me. Anyway, I just discovered your greatness this summer, and after reading all of your books I have to ask, do you think that ANY of your books would be okay for a middle schooler to read? I want my students to be exposed to really good stuff like yours, but I am concerned about suggesting it lest their conservative parents eat me alive for perverting their minds with far less shocking things then they already know about from their conversations in the lunchroom. thoughts?
Hey, I’m a middle schooler, and I absolutly adore John Green’s books, but im not really sure whether they would be appropriate for the class at large to read, what with people developing at different times, some might not fuly understand the refrences and jokes, let alone the large quantity of swearing and sex. I love his books, and the majority of my friends do too, but I think you should just look over your class and see if they could cope, and also you should probably send a form to the parents? I dont know, I’m just rambling now. Just leave it to your judgement. They would be great to discuss and stuff. Oh well, I’m done. Bye
I teach grades 7-9, and I include the books in my classroom library. I do live in Canada, which I believe (on the whole) may be a tad less conservative that the US when it comes to book content. However, I may have a solution to your problem: in our school, we send home a letter at the beginning of the year explaining our reading program and that as part of said program, students choose their own books. We note that students maturity, reading level, etc. factor into these decisions. We note that some of our books have some mature content, and that we trust students to make choices that are right for them. We encourage parents to talk to their children about what books they’re reading. The letter is good for a few reasons, but one of them is that parents know from the outset that their kids may come across material with which they’re not comfortable, and it’s their job (and right) within their family to decide what to do about that. I also think it’s fair to point out that there would be very few books to read if any that were objectionable to someone were removed from the shelves.
As back up, I often discuss video games with my students in the first weeks of school. If their parents question which books I let them read, it’s kind of handy to bring up that they regularly play Grand Theft Auto, and that at least when they read sketchy books, they have to discuss that content with an adult.
Most parents these days will let their children read anything. I even came across a girl in one of my classes reading 50SoG. In some cases Twilight is a more “mature” book series than John’s so I don’t think that it should be any problem. His books are on a website that the schools run called Reading Counts! (I don’t know if other schools across the country have it so I will just explain anyways) where you read a book and take a test on it. I found that out from randomly searching some of my favorite authors and had a complete fangirl moment so if the school are letting us middle schoolers take a test on John’s books after reading them then in theory they are letting us read whatever we want. It would be best to send a note home to the parents saying what the curriculum is for the year. I kind of rambled but hey, I’m an 8th grader just trying to help spread awesome :)
I’m an 8th grade student and have been working my way through reading his books. I’ve read The Fault In Our Stars, An Abundance Of Katherines, and I’m reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson. They are a little inappropriate at times, but like others have suggested, sending home a form to tell the parents what is about might be a good idea. Other than that I think having them read it would be a great idea. I really enjoy them. Most books I read for classes are older classics, like Frankenstein and The Once and Future King, which most students in my class didn’t like, reading books like these would interest the kids more.
Hola John!
So I was listening to a couple of the pieces you wrote for the radio (they are all amazing by the way) and since a question has formed in my head. In your piece ‘Uncle Tom’ you mention going to a party and meeting a “petite brunette named Sarah”. I was just wondering if the Sarah mentioned is in fact also The Yeti or you, like your character Colin, have dated several girls of the same name?
Anyways, thanks for the books :)
When is the next book coming out? You’ve talked about your next project quite a bit, but is there any sort of release date in the near future on it?
I wish to read your old old blogs.
Was the title of your blog “sparks fly up” a biblical reference to job 5:7?
http://dftbarecordsllc.bandcamp.com/track/the-sparks-fly-upward-feat-john-green
I’ve been trying to find the answer to this question all night haha. I think this is a pretty good answer.
How do I get the digital copy of Zombicorns that I bought a raffle ticket for? This has to do with Project4Awesome….please help.
Please please tell me you’re working on something. I’ve read every book you’ve done. Now that I know of some other things you’ve done from your “other stuff” page, I’ll go and read those, and then I’ll have nothing. Thankfully I’m working through Maureen Johnson’s works right now. Let It Snow got me into her; that book was simply amazing. John Green, you are truly one of the best young adult authors of our time.
Hi John,
I’m a teacher of English Literature and I was wondering if you could give me any advice on the age range for which your books are appropriate?
Definitely more of a high school age. Most 8th graders could probably handle it, but the content is more appropriate for high school age readers. Also, I (being a high school student myself) believe that the average middle schooler would not be able to understand a lot of the jokes made throughout the novels.
Yes, but neither can they shakespeare :3
Apart from the 4 books you listed, what other mental_floss books/magazines did you contribute to?
I absolutely love the stuff you’ve written so far and was wondering if you had any new ideas? Like are there any works in progress right now? That’d be great, and I’m looking forward to reading more of your books in the future :D
How bout them Zombiecorns?
I really dug this short story by you and It surprises me how you didn’t feel it was good and went to great lengths to make sure the reader knew you thought that before hand. I admit it’s not PaperTowns but its still a john green story and thus it has many of the magic and charm of a john green story plus a lot of guns and corn. Did i mentioned my mind was blown when i realized it was through a female’s perspective?
Hi John. I was wondering where your blog archives are?
Hey John, did you know that i spent four hours last night trying to find out riddles on This Is Not Tom. And i got to page 12. And then guess what….the website is not there anymore! I am going to cry. What happened????
Working on anything new? I got my friends hooked on you and we are all waiting on your next book.
HI, me again… so now this is not tom us up again but now i have a message coming up that says it contains malware and that the website could have been overtaken by hackers… so yeah, is that true ? or did you put it back up?
Hi. I was wondEring if you had books that you’d recommend that were your favorite. You described eXactly what my town is Like in the book “Paper Towns” and I just wondered…where does your inspiration come from? and what helps you come uP with stories like these?
I just got my pre-ordered copy of TFiOS but it wasn’t signed. What should I do?
What are your feelings of people putting references to you and/or nerdfighteria in their media (eg. Books, music etc.)?
Dear Mr. Green,
I’m not going to be long winded, but i simply wanted to say, i just read The Fault in our Stars, and cried like a baby for about an hour. Your work is astonishingly beautiful. Thank you.
Mr. Green,
Are you going to write any other books? I don’t need to know if they’ll be released soon or in five years or whenever, but I really like everything you’ve written and I’d love to read more (Frankly, I’d read your grocery lists). Thank you.
Question: I heard you went to a boarding school, was your experience anything like the one Miles had in LFA?
Question: what do you think is a good thing to study if you want to become a writer? And also: what did you study?
Hey John, I just got to the current end of TINT, and I must say, I was surprised at how well you wrote that kind of a story, since it’s so different than any of your books. But, I was wondering if you have any plans of continuing it, because I know there are still people interested in the story and reading more of it.
Hi John! Why did you decide to put a picture of Margo on the cover of Paper Towns? Was this a personal choice or one of the publishing company? I feel like readers should head into storied with clear minds and no preconceived ideas of the characters, do you agree? Why or why not?
Mr. John Green,
I’d like you to read this not only because you’re my favorite author, but also because, flattery aside, my community needs you.
Will Grayson/Will Grayson is a great book, and it touches upon something very sensitive in modern society: homosexuality. And while the book is beautiful and satisfying, quite frankly, my lgbt budz and I want more.
On a personal level, only your and Salinger’s words can captivate me. On a community level, we love you. And because Salinger’s dead, we need you more than ever.
We need you to be the voice of the movement for lgbt equality. Or at least, the spark. We are a movement without an MLK or a Rosa Parks – the window’s wide open for someone like you to swoop in and start something real.
Basically, we’d really really like you to create something as shattering as To Kill a Mockingbird, but make Boo Radley gay. But not really. You know what I mean. We want you to create something that brings the civil rights issue of today into the hands of teenagers – the hands that will forge a new future, and hopefully, because of you, one that is more tolerant.
Maybe you think lgbt equality isn’t as big as the civil rights movement. Know why? Because it doesn’t have a face, and it doesn’t have a spark. Yet.
WG/WG was great, but it only touched briefly upon the struggles of people like us. I’d like to see something that changes people’s minds.
What do you say?
Sincerely,
Jay
fan, reader, writer, lover, person, student, actor, fun-lover.
homosexual.
Hi John!
I was wondering if you could help me with something I’m forgetting.
You gave a speech (or an essay) a little while back about the unrealized power of high school students. It had something to do with the fact that many people believe high school students are total degenerate weenies, but really they can do fabulous things and have very well thought out questions. I wrote a very short paper on it for my AP English class last year. It really impacted me, and I’m hoping you can help me locate it as I can’t seem to find it on your website. I’m sorry I don’t remember the details right now!
Thank you so much in advance! I am truly a huge fan of your work!
-Emma (Anxious high school senior, English person, general math despiser, a lot of other things I don’t have the time right now to mention)
Hi John,
I’ve really loved your videos, and have actually only read one of your books, TFiOS, because I’m busy writing my own stuff (mostly a dissertation, but also fiction). What I wanted to ask, and maybe you can address this in a vlog, is:
How do I choose a place to submit my short stories to? (Actually, it’s 8,000 words so it’s technically a novelette.)
I know how to choose places to submit my scholarly work to, because I know the ins and outs of my particular area of study, but with fiction it’s a whole new world. Apart from reading a lot of short story magazines, is there a way to learn about publishing outlets for short story writers?
Thanks,
Alexandra
p.s. And how do I stop myself from overusing “actually”?
I’m a little confused…I got to the site for the This Is Not Tom thing and I figured out all the puzzles and watched all the videos, but what do I do now to read it?