John Green

If You Like John Green
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John Green’s writing style is simple yet elegant. His novels are similar yet completely different. His topics range from road trips, to romance, to tragic loss, to missing persons — each of which will keep you emotionally involved until the very end. Although all of Green’s novels featured in this booklist are shelved in the young adult area many adults can learn something from them as well.

Books by John Green featured in this booklist:

An Abundance of Katherines (2006)

Summary: In this novel Colin Singleton is dumped by a variety of girls all named Katherine. He goes on a road trip with his best friend all the while trying to use math to predict his future relationships.

Read-a-likes: These novels are similar to An Abundance of Katherines in that they’re all coming-of-age stories where teens go off on adventures – whether it’s a road trip or heading off to college.

Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer (YA Bauer)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (YA Bray)
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (YA Cohn)
Car Trouble by Jeanne DuPrau (j DuPrau)
Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook (YA PB Halbrook)
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour (YA LaCour)
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (YA PB (Fiction) Matson)
Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan (YA McCahan)
Surf Mules by Greg Neri (j Neri)
Damaged by Amy Reed (YA PB Reed)
The Miles Between by Mary Pearson (j Pearson)
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (YA Rowell)
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith (YA Smith)
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (YA PB Smith)
Zigzag by Ellen Wittlinger (j Wittlinger)

The Fault in Our Stars (2012)

Summary: This novel follows Hazel, a sixteen year old who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After accepting her diagnosis she meets Augustus at a support meeting and is forced to reexamine her life.

Read-a-likes: These books are similar to The Fault in Our Stars in that they’re all character-driven books about relationships and terminal illnesses.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (YA Andrews)
Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts (YA Betts)
Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic (YA PB Bostic)
The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla (YA PB (Fiction) Castrovilla)
Before I Die by Jenny Downham (YA Downham)
Radiate by Marley Gibson (YA PB Gibson)
Side Effects by Amy Goldman Koss (YA Koss)
Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel
How Do I Love Thee: Three Stories by Lurlene McDaniel (j McDaniel)
Keep Me in Your Heart: Three Novels by Lurlene McDaniel (YA PB McDaniel)
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern (YA McDaniel)
Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon (YA Seamon)
The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder (YA Wunder)

Looking for Alaska (2005)

Summary: Miles “Pudge” Halter heads off to Culver Creek Boarding School where he meets Alaska, an attractive yet emotionally unstable girl, who turns his life upside down.

Read-a-likes: These novels are similar to Looking for Alaska because they all deal with interpersonal relationships in a group setting – whether it be boarding schools, high schools or hospitals.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (YA Asher)
Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes (YA Barnes)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (YA PB Chbosky)
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard (YA Hubbard)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles (YA PB Knowles)
A Certain October by Angela Johnson (YA Johnson)
The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan (YA LaBan)
The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks by E. Lockhart (j Lockhart)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (YA Rowell)
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider (YA Schneider)
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Sittenfeld)
Winger by Andrew Smith (YA Smith)
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (YA Tharp)
OCD, the Dude, and Me by Lauren Roedy Vaughn (YA Vaughn)
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (YA PB Vizzini)

Paper Towns (2008)

Summary: After a whirlwind night on the town with his crush, Quentin “Q” Jacobsen finds out the next morning that she has vanished and follows the trail of clues to find her.

Read-a-likes: These novels are similar to Paper Towns in that they all deal with missing persons or the search to find something.

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (YA PB Abrahams)
As Simple As Snow by Gregory Galloway (j Galloway)
Claws by Dan Greenburg (j Greenburg)
A Fast and Brutal Wing by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson (j Johnson)
Invisible I by Melissa Kantor (j Kantor)
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (YA King)
King Dork by Frank Portman (YA Portman)
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff (YA Rosoff)
Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine (j Valentine)

Turtles All the Way Down (2017)

Summary: Aza and Daisy are best friends. When a billionaire goes missing a hundred-thousand-dollar reward is offered to anyone who can find him. They decide to investigate and Aza develops a relationship with the missing billionaire’s son. All is well until Aza’s growing paranoia about bacteria starts to unravel her mind.

Read-a-likes: These novels are similar to Turtles All the Way Down because they deal with missing persons and/or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

There’s No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern (PB Ahern)
Zelah Green by Vanessa Curtis (YA PB Curtis)
The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison (YA Ellison)
OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu (YA Haydu)
OCDaniel by Wesley King (j King)
Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann (YA McMann)
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (YA Silvera)
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson (j Thompson)
Don’t Touch by Rachel Wilson (YA Wilson)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2010)

Summary: In this novel two polar opposites meet accidentally. The only thing they have in common is their name. After their meeting their lives become entwined when one of them starts dating the other’s best friend who writes a musical about their lives.

Read-a-likes: These novels are similar to Will Grayson, Will Grayson because they are all realistic fiction about relationships (most of which are LGBTQ) and the arts.

Notes from the Blender by Trish Cook (YA Cook)
Good Moon Rising by Nancy Garden (j Garden)
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (YA Handler)
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger (Hartinger)
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner (YA Horner)
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger (YA Kluger)
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour (YA LaCour)
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (YA Levithan)
Dramarama by E. (Emily) Lockhart (YA Lockhart)
A Tale of Two Summers by Brian Sloan (j Sloan)
Freak Show by James St. James (j Saint James)
Pink by Lili Wilkinson (YA Wilkinson)

If you’re looking for a list of authors similar to John Green you may try one of these:

This list last created 9/2014 – cr / last updated 6/2021

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