Biography of John Green

An accomplished young adult author, John Green has won numerous accolades for his six novels – Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances (with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle), Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson and The Fault in Our Stars – and his short stories.

His debut novel, Looking for Alaska, was awarded the American Literary Association’s annual Michael L. Printz award; An Abundance of Katherines was a runner-up for the same award and a finalist for Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Green’s third book, Paper Towns, debuted at number five on the New York Times bestseller list in 2008 and was later awarded 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and the Corine Literature Prize in 2010. Published in 2010, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is the result of collaboration with Green’s friend and fellow young adult author, David Levithan. The novel was a runner-up both for Stonewell Book Award, for excellence in LGBT in children’s and young adult fiction, and the Odyssey Award for excellence in Audiobook Production. Green’s most recent publication, The Fault in Our Stars, was Number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2012 and was released as a major motion film in June 2014.

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 24th, 1977, John Green spent his childhood in Orlando, Florida. He attended Indian Springs School in Indian Springs Village, Alabama, which served as the basis for Culver Creek Preparatory School in Looking for Alaska. He graduated from Kenyon College in 2000 with degrees English and Religious Studies. Post-college, Green intended to become an Episcopal priest. He spent several months working with hospitalized children as a student chaplain in Chicago. It was during this time that he decided to become a writer; he later published The Fault in Our Stars, which deals with adolescents with life-threatening illnesses.

Besides writing, Green works on other projects, mainly through online videos. In 2007, Green and his brother Hank started Brotherhood 2.0, a yearlong project in which the two brothers agreed to cease all forms of communication except video blogs. Using a Youtube channel, “VlogBrothers,” they posted videos to each other on alternating days. Although intended to be a year long and fairly private affair, the channel spawned a following of people around their world calling themselves "Nerdfighters." In 2013, the channel reached 1 million subscribers. Through the years since 2007, "Nerdfighteria" has followed the lead of John and Hank Green to give to charity, create and follow educational YouTube channels, and celebrate the VlogBrother motto "DFTBA," or "Don't Forget To Be Awesome."

John Green currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Sarah Urist Green, his children, Henry and Alice, and dog, Willy.


Study Guides on Works by John Green

An Abundance of Katherines (2006) is a novel by John Green who is a highly regarded Young Adult (YA) Fiction author. He maintains a substantial online following especially on Youtube where he and his brother Hank make videos, such as the popular...

Looking for Alaska was published in 2005 by Dutton Children’s Books. It was John Green’s first novel. Inspired by his own education at Indian Springs School in Alabama, the book is set at the fictional Culver Creek Preparatory School, an upscale...

Paper Towns is John Green's third novel, published in 2008. It deals with similar elements of his previous works, including the presence of a beautiful yet eccentric female and a gawky, uncertain male. It is compared to his 2005 novel Looking for...

Turtles All the Way Down is entrepreneur and author John Green's 2017 follow-up to his 2012 smash-hit The Fault in Our Stars. In the book, we follow a high school student named Aza Holmes. She is wicked smart but struggles with mental health—...