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Description edit
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. He’s also a washed up child prodigy with ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a passion for ... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
This book follows the life of young Colin, an old child prodigy with a way with anagrams. Throughout the book, he gets dumped by his nineteenth (and also first) Katherine, and goes on a roadtrip with his fat best friend as a way of sorting things out. He tries to figure out mathematical love,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Colin Singleton: A washed up child prodigy who has been dumped 19* times by girls named Katherine and isn't sure what to do with his life, aside from the fact that he just wants to matter. Although the narration is third person, he is the main character and we can only see into his thoughts. He has a thing for anagramming.
- Lindsey Lee Wells: A normal girl in Gutshot, Tennessee who Colin and Hassan meet and befriend. She is dating TOC, or "The Other Colin." She works at a local store that is owned by her mother and seems as though she is spoiled brat.
- Hassan Harbish: Colin's friend from high school. He is fat. Hassan graduated the year before, but didn't go to college. He is a dedicated Muslim and just the slightest bit overweight. He also loves Judge Judy with a burning passion.
- HOLLIS P. WELLS: Lindsey's mother. She gives Colin and Hassan jobs and a place to stay while they stay in Gutshot. She is always working and owns the textile factory in which most residents of Gutshot work and rely on. Wears a lot of pink. Cares deeply about everyone in town.
- Katherine XIX: The latest Katherine - she and Colin dated for almost a year and Colin fell hard for her. She breaks up with him at the beginning of the book.
- Katrina: One of Lindsey's friends. She is very attractive.
- Starnes: The first person to be interviewed by Lindsey, Colin and Hassan. He gives an inside scoop on Gutshot
- Mr. Lyford: The Other Colin's dad. Very smart when it comes to hunting hogs.
- Mabel Bartrand: One of the old women that Lindsey, Hassan and Colin interview.
- Katherine Mutsensberger (aka Katherine III): The third Katherine that Colin dates.
- Fred N. Dinzanfar: Lindsey's great grandfather who built the Gutshot textile factory.
- Chase: TOC's friend
- Krazy Keith: Observed Colin's skills when he was young, and became his tutor. Helped Colin learn from a young age. Also the father of Katherine I.
- Colin (TOC): Also known as TOC (The Other Colin). Lindsey's boyfriend. A popular jock who formerly dated Lindsey's friend Katrina.
- Arch Duke Ferdinand: A historical figure. His assassination is commonly considered the beginning of the first World War and "the shot heard around the world". Hassan and Colin visit his gravesite.
- Mrs. Singleton: Colin's mother
- Jake: Add a description of this character.
- Katherine XVIII
- Marcus
- Pierre
- Katherine XIV
- Miss Lindsey Lee: Colin's second ever friend; resident of Gutshot. Works at the general store. TOC's girlfriend and Hollis' daughter
- Roy Walker
- Marie Caravolli
- Ovid
- Fulton
- Jolene
- Nikola Tesla
- J. D. Salinger: author of "Catcher in the Rye"
- Zeke: works at the factory in Gutshot
- Amy
- JATT: TOC's friend
- Katherine Layne
- Caroline Clayton
- Don Juan
- Bainbridge Wadleigh
- Thomas Edison
- George Hodel
- Norman Mailer
- Dad: Colin's father
- Mr. Harbish
- Lewis Terman
- Katherine I: Colin's first girlfriend, also Katherine XIX
- Robert Caseman
- Karen Aronson
- Franz Ferdinand
Quotes edit
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“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they'll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.”
Colin Singleton -
“But mothers lie. It's in the job description.”
Colin Singleton -
“Crying adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was some horrible opposite of crying. It was you, minus something. He kept thinking of that one word - forever - and felt the burning ache just beneath his rib cage.”
Third Person Limited Narrator -
“You can love someone so much ... But you can never love people as much as you can miss them.”
Colin Singleton -
“How do you just stop being terrified of getting left behind and ending up by yourself forever and not meaning anything to the world?”
Colin Singleton -
“And the second moral of the story, if a story can have multiple morals, is that Dumpers are not inherently worse than Dumpees--breaking up isn't something that gets done to you; it's something that happens with you.”
Colin Singleton -
“I don't think your missing pieces ever fit inside you again once they go missing.”
Colin Singleton -
“one of his general policies in life was never to do anything standing up that could just as easily be done lying down.”
-
“Prodigies can very quickly learn what other people have already figured out; geniuses discover that which no one has ever previously discovered. Prodigies learn; geniuses do.”
-
“I can't think of a talent that is more simultaneously impressive and useless than anagramming.”
John Green -
“How you matter is defined by the things that matter to you. You matter as much as the things that matter to you do.”
Setting & Locations edit
Gutshot, TN
First Sentence edit
The morning after noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath.
Table of Contents edit
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Epilogue, or: the Lindsey Lee Wells chapter
Glossary edit
- Eureka: Greek: I have found it
- Sitzpinkler: German slang word for wimp, direct translation is "a man who sits to pee"
- Kafir: mean way of saying non-Muslim
- Sanskrit: Dead language
- Ohiboke: Arabic: I love you
- John Locke: British Philosopher
- Abligurition: Spending too much money on food
- Amour aime aimer amour!: French Quote by: James Joyce Ulysses: "Love loves to love love!"
- Merde: Shit in french
- Haram: Forbidden by Islam in Arabic
- Khanzeer: Arabic for pig
- Iblis: Arabic for Satan
- Paardenlul: Horse's penis
- Mein held: German: My hero
- Sajill: Arabic: Record
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Kirkus Reviews: Books About Muslim Teens. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- John Green (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN: 0525476881
Page Count: 215
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN: 0525476881
Page Count: 215
Awards edit
- Michael L. Printz Award (2007, Honor Book)
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Finalist)
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsBad language and some sexual content. The F-word is used once or twice, but the word "fug" and "fugging" are used multiple times as a substitute cuss word.
Subjects edit
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