Turtles All the Way Down
by John Green (Author)
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Publishers Weekly
Like many of Green's characters, Aza Holmes is whip smart, articulate, and tortured by worry. When she was eight, her father succumbed to a heart attack while mowing the lawn. Now 16, Aza takes meds (irregularly) to treat anxiety, which is manifesting in increasingly self-destructive ways. Her problems amplify when she reconnects with Davis, a boy she met years earlier at "Sad Camp," where both had gone to grieve their recently deceased parents. Now Davis's billionaire father is missing, running from a warrant for his arrest. Aza's best friend Daisy, in a classic sidekick role, pressures Aza to contact Davis, hoping they'll learn something about the disappearance--and maybe get a cut of the $100,000 reward. The reunion leads to romance, until Aza's anxiety won't allow it. Green's first novel since The Fault in Our Stars is another heartbreaker, full of intelligent questions. It's also a very writerly book, as Aza frames a lot of the questions she asks herself in literary terms. Am I a fiction? Who is in charge of my story? Why do we describe pain with the language of metaphor? Because of this, it's tempting to conflate Aza the character with her author, who has been open about his own mental illness. But readers need not know where the line is between the two to feel for someone trapped in an irrational, fear-driven spiral. In an age where troubling events happen almost weekly, this deeply empathetic novel about learning to live with demons and love one's imperfect self is timely and important. Ages 14-up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Oct.)
Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"This novel is by far [Green's] most difficult to read. It's also his most astonishing. . . . So surprising and moving and true that I became completely unstrung. . . . One needn't be suffering like Aza to identify with it. One need only be human."—The New York Times "A tender story about learning to cope when the world feels out of control." - People "Green finds the language to describe the indescribable. . . . A must-read for those struggling with mental illness, or for their friends and family." —San Francisco Chronicle
"A powerful tale for teens (and adults) about anxiety, love and friendship." —The Los Angeles Times "Turtles delivers a lesson that we so desperately need right now: Yes, it is okay not to be okay.... John Green has crafted a dynamic novel that is deeply honest, sometimes painful, and always thoughtful." - Mashable "Green does more than write about; he endeavours to write inside.... No matter where you are on the spiral—and we're all somewhere—Green's novel makes the trip, either up or down, a less solitary experience." - The Globe and Mail "A thoughtful look at mental illness and a debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder that doesn't ask but makes you feel the constant struggles of its main character. . . . Turtles explores the definition of happy endings, whether love is a tragedy or a failure, and a universal lesson for us all: 'You work with what you have.'" - USA Today "A wrenching and revelatory novel." - The New York Times "Tender, wise, and hopeful." - The Wall Street Journal "A new modern classic." - The Guardian "Green's most authentic and most ambitious work to date." - Bustle "An existential teenage scream." - Vox "Funny, clever, and populated with endearing characters." - Entertainment Weekly "An incredibly powerful tale of the pain of mental illness, the pressures of youth, and coming of age when you feel like you're coming undone." - Shelf Awareness ★ "A richly rewarding read...the most mature of Green's work to date and deserving of all the accolades that are sure to come its way." - Booklist ★ "In an age where troubling events happen almost weekly, this deeply empathetic novel about learning to live with demons and love one's imperfect self is timely and important." - Publishers Weekly ★ "A deeply resonant and powerful novel that will inform and enlighten readers even as it breaks their hearts. A must-buy." - School Library Journal
Praise for John Green - 50 million books in print worldwide - #1 New York Times Bestseller
#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller
#1 USA Today Bestseller
#1 International Bestseller ★ Michael L. Printz Award Winner
★ Michael L. Printz Honor Winner
★ Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
★ TIME 100 Most Influential People
★ Forbes Celebrity 100
★ NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels
★ TIME Magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time Critical acclaim for The Fault in Our Stars "Damn near genius . . . The Fault in Our Stars is a love story, one of the most genuine and moving ones in recent American fiction, but it's also an existential tragedy of tremendous intelligence and courage and sadness." —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine "This is a book that breaks your heart—not by wearing it down, but by making it bigger until it bursts." —The Atlantic "Remarkable . . . A pitch-perfect, elegiac comedy." —USA Today
"[Green's] voice is so compulsively readable that it defies categorization. You will be thankful for the little infinity you spend inside this book." —NPR.org "John Green deftly mixes the profound and the quotidian in this tough, touching valentine to the human spirit." —The Washington Post "[Green] shows us true love—two teenagers helping and accepting each other through the most humiliating physical and emotional ordeals—and it is far more romantic than any sunset on the beach." —New York Times Book Review
YAF011000 - Young Adult Fiction | Coming of Age
YAF058140 - Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Mental Illness
Missing persons
Friendship in adolescence
Teenage girls
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescence
Anxiety disorders
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Mental
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Friends
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Coming of Age
