The Fault in Our Stars is John Green's sixth novel. Green drew inspiration from his time working as a chaplain at a children's hospital and from his friendship with Esther Earl, a friend of Green's to whom the book is dedicated.
The book was released in January 2012, but it had already reached #1 on Amazon and Barnes & Noble's bestseller lists 6 months before, in June 2011, due to Green's (largely online) following. Green promised to sign every pre-ordered book, and did so in different colors of Sharpie proportional to votes on Sharpie colors sent in online. Once published, The Fault in Our Stars held the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books for seven weeks as well as placing first or within the top ten on a variety of other bestseller lists, including The Wall Street Journal, Time, and The Guardian. There are over 1 million copies of the book in print in at least 10 languages.
Critics received The Fault in Our Stars very well, touting its humor, language, and perspective. Many other YA fiction authors, including Jodi Picoult, Markus Zuzak, and E. Lockhart, also applauded Green’s novel. However, one notably negative review from the Daily Mail describes The Fault in Our Stars as exploiting the stories of ill young adults, though Green responded to this claim in a later interview by saying the idea that young adults can't read critically is condescending.
A film adaptation of the book, also called The Fault in Our Stars, was released on June 6, 2014, directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley (Hazel), Ansel Elgort (Augustus), and Nat Wolff (Isaac). The film too was popularly and critically successful, becoming number one at the box office during its opening weekend and receiving a 80% critic vote and 85% popular vote on rottentomatoes.com. Differences between the book include the elimination of the characters Caroline (Augustus's former girlfriend) and Kaitlyn (Hazel's school friend), increased rapidity in Gus's illness, and a scene in which Gus shows up to Hazel's house in a limousine.
