Besides an addiction with a work of fiction known as An Imperial Affliction, Hazel Grace Lancaster’s life was, and always would be, made of cancer. It was like the disease had taken over her entire world and paralyzed her in a “totally clinical depression”(honestly, who wouldn’t be clinically depressed; she was drowning in a pool of fluid in her own lungs). However, there is one other thing. Her doctors had recommended this support group in the basement of a stone-walled church referred to as “The Literal Heart of Jesus”. Of course, the group wasn’t the thing itself, but rather this long, lean boy named Augustus Waters.

“I had a touch of osteosarcoma about a year and a half ago,” he explains, “…sometimes it takes a limb to check you out, and if it likes you, it takes the rest.” (Green). Unfortunately, the cancer loved Augustus.

This story, known as The Fault in Our Stars, became a worldwide phenomenon when it was released into bookstores in two thousand twelve and was morphed into a block-buster movie in the summer of two thousand fourteen. Although it was written two years ago, the majority of its readers are still buzzing about the ending.

The important thing to remember though is not why Gus died, but the legacy he left behind. In today’s society, most people believe that in order to be extravagant, in order to be loved, in order in fall in love, a person must be perfectly healthy. He proved them wrong. He proved that, even with diseased tumors accumulating most of his flesh and bones, he led an average lifestyle.

See, Gus’ confidence even after his cancer returned astonishes our world, but the question is: how does it affect the environment of North Forsyth High School?

“It’ really empowering because, through Augustus’, Green taught his teen audience about the devastation of cancer. It’s awful, but through everything, the love story continued to grow. I loved that,” Said Freshmen Katherine Strube.

Every author has the power to change lives with their story, but it’s only every once in a while that someone dares to unleash that power. Mr. Green did it; he was the one that dared. He took risks, told a truthful story, and succeeded.

We will always be “okay” with that.