Turtles All the Way Down

by John Green (Author)

Turtles All the Way Down
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
"Wrenching and revelatory." An instant #1 bestseller, the widely acclaimed Turtles All the Way Down is John Green's brilliant and shattering new novel.

Featured on 60 Minutes, Fresh Air, Studio 360, Good Morning America, The TODAY Show

"A tender story about learning to cope when the world feels out of control." - People

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there's a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett's son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza's story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.
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Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

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

A New York Times Notable Book - A New York Times Critics' Top Book of the Year - An NPR Best Book of the Year - A TIME Best Book of the Year - A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year - A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year - An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year - A Seventeen Best Book of the Year - A Southern Living Best Book of the Year - A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year - A Booklist Editors' Choice Selection - A BookPage Best Book of the Year - An SLJ Best Book of the Year - An A.V. Club Best Book of the Year - A Bustle Best Book of the Year - A BuzzFeed Best Book of the Year - A Pop Sugar Best Book of the Year - A Vulture Best Book of the Year

#1 New York Times Bestseller - #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller - #1 International Bestseller

Featured on Fresh Air, Studio 360, Good Morning Amercia, The TODAY Show

"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
John Green
John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down. His many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers and co-created the online educational series CrashCourse. You can join the millions who follow him on Twitter @johngreen and Instagram @johngreenwritesbooks or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com. John lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780525555377
Lexile Measure
840
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication date
June 20, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
YAF058120 - Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
YAF011000 - Young Adult Fiction | Coming of Age
YAF058140 - Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Mental Illness
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
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

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