Play Book Tag discussion

Every time I read a John Green book, I'm surprised by how much I like it. He is a huge hit with his YA audience, and many adults love him too. His stories are highly entertaining, and they contain many intelligent insights for teens, parents, and everyone else. I just wish I discovered him when my children were teenagers. This book deals with anxiety disorder, which he has said he suffers from too. I thought it was handled in a very realistic and effective way. As I was listening to the character's thoughts, I started feeling a little empathetic anxiety myself. The intrusive fearful thoughts were sometimes just unrelenting. I think it would be hard to function like that. (Fortunately there are medications that can help.)

This book has more than 200 friendship tags, and the friendship between the two girls was my absolute favorite part of the book. Mental illness can put a big strain on friendships, and this was explored in some interesting ways. It felt painful and honest. It makes me wish all kids were lucky enough to have a friendship like this. There were several other issues in the plot including boys, Star Wars fan fiction, the missing father of a boy she liked, reward money, and an underground (literally) art project.