The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 51

By KELSEY BRADBURY NeXt Correspondent Ithough he published his first book only three years ago John Green is already considered by sonic to Ik: in the same category as writing lee end JD Salinger and his work des tined to be this generation's in the His debut novel for received the prestigious award for young adult literature in 2006 (The rights to for have been acquired by Para mount Pictures to become a movie written and directed by cre ator Josh Schwartz) A native of lorida Green attended boarding school in Birmingham Ala then studied English literature and re ligion at Kenyon College before mov ing to Chicago Jasl fall Green re leased Abundance of and he is currently working on his third novel for teens always scary when in the middle of tlic book and you're revising it and it all feels very Green reveals still having Like the main characters in "Lookingfbr Alaska" you went to a boarding school in Alabama IVhatmis lhe best and worst pari oj'thal experience? Hie I esl part was being lutiund your friends all day long You form incredibly close friendshijs liecai isc you never have to go home The hardest pint was having a very different kind of adult su pervision than you have when you live in a house with two parents who are around for you In some ways 1 did not function veiy well I never cleaned my room mid I didn't do thelaundiyso I smelled I learned how to shave by trial and error The life tilings llial you learn when a teenager just hanging around your house I never learned how to do My parents are veiy 1 ively and supiKirtive but just the fact that I was running with my peers rather than be ing with adults meant that I get some of the life stuff until later How didyoupickthe name wwwSparksHyUpcoin fbr your Website? I started the Web site when 1 had my first radio pieces on Nat ional Pub MeeT JoHNGReeN Author chats about boarding school road trips writing and ly i 1 Viw jJ 'e I IK I i John Green won Lhe Michael Pcintz award for hie firet novel "Looking for Ala aka" lie Radio which were just short funny commentaries about my ex girlfriends 0rwhatevcrJohnGreencom needless to say was taken by a realtor in Missis sippi 1 picked SparkslyIIpcom lie cause a reference to a line in tlic book of Joli in the Bible The line is is born to trouble like the sparks lly Al the lime 1 thought I was bom to trouble I guess Miles the main character in "lAMtkingJ'or Alaska" memorizes the last words offamous people His favorite last words quote is by 1 Kabelais who said to I seek the great perhaps whileAlas 1 ka best identifies with Simon Hoik 1 var's last words: "How will! ever I get out of this labyrinth?" What is I your favorite quote? My favorite quote generally is from Robert Yost the poet 1 le once said in Conversation "llic only way out is 1 like that a lot and think alxmt it all lhe time in my new Ixxik actually My favorite last words are probably from Emily Dickinson She said must go in the fog Ls "An Abundance qf Katherines" is about Colin and Hassan Page 3 best friends who take a road trip 'as the plot inspired by any mem orable roadtrips you havetaken? Oh yeah I love road trips! At some point 1 got xi old for a really low rent road trip where you stay in $26 motels and everything is a little bit seary and everything smells funny and in a car for 15 days But when I was in college I took a road trip back and forth to the Grand Canyon from Ohio which was fun The big road trip I took in college was from Ohio to Alas ka There and back is almost half the circumference of the earth That did some damage to my carbon footprint I apologize to global wanning for that one! Wien I was in high scluxil I tixik a roml trip from Birmingham to New Orleans which txk about 10 hours 1 love the sort of endlessness of road trips and I love roadside attractions I think roadside attractions arc so uniquely American and so interesting that 1 really wanted to write alxmt them tx It was my interest in road trips and my interest in tiny tiny towns that only exist liecause of their ridiculous tourist industry that in spired Abundance of How much input do you have on the development of the film based on According to my contract have no input 1 have been fortunate though in that they have asked for my opinion and taken my opinion seriously in every stage of the process Josh Schwartz is a really smart great writer and 1 hope one day they make lhe film Ix'cause 1 think that he would do a axil job with it I Vhat areyouworking on now? My new Ixx is called I think I like the name dial much but Ute actu al Ixxik itself cannot be allied anything else because all alxmt tlic phrase so it would lie really weird to call thelxxik anything other than set in Orlando lorida where I grew up and about a girl Margot who goes on a crazy all night adventure through central lori da with her next door netghlxir 1 1 not told from tlic point of view but more than either of my previous Ixxiks the girl is really Hie center Kelsey lirm ibury is a sen ior at Williamsville East WZ VE ALBUMS ILM 1 Why Didi Gel Mai (PG 13) Lionsgale 2 Game (PG) Buena Vista 3 (R) Warner Brothers 4 Own lhe Night Sony Pictures HOT IVE 1 (Soulia Soul jaBoy CoIliParklntcrscope 2 Kanye West Roc A el laDef JamIDJMG 3 Britney Spurns JiveZombtl cIO: 4 pologi Ti mbaland eaturing OneRcpublic MosleyBlackgroundIntcr scope 5 Way 1 feat Keri I lilson MosleyBlack groundInterseope (f'rom Hillboard magazine) (R) Dreamworks (Media Numbers UC) lumbiaSony Music l' 2 eels Rascal latts Lyric Strecl1 lollywood A nn Mjimclrrnn i matchlwc twenty MelismaAtlaniicAG i 4 Soulja Boy I ColliParkIntersoipeiGA I 5 Back of My Holiday Music LineCanilol 1 (ihnn Itdllssmltnt'igagiw) 'ftrnu I 'k.