Saturday, December 1, 2018

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing


A big perk of working at BookPeople is having access to a room full of ARCs—but it's not something I'm very good about taking advantage of usually. I either forget to check or I'll grab one and never get around to reading it before the book is actually published (which really defeats the purpose). It also doesn't help that I typically only work at BookPeople once a week, so the ARCs I'm interested in have usually already been taken.

But when it came to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, I was determined to get my hands on a copy and read it before its release date. I enlisted my dear friend Christina to watch out for ARCs since she works full-time at BookPeople, and she found one for me by the end of July! (Get you a Christina in your life.) I read it in a week and it was so fun. Below is the tiny synopsis and review I wrote for BookPeople's monthly newsletter and holiday catalog.*

It's 2:45 A.M. in Manhattan, and April May has found (what she believes to be) a giant robot sculpture standing in front of a Chipotle. She and her friend Andy make a silly video with the sculpture (dubbed "Carl") and upload it to YouTube, unaware that other Carls have appeared overnight in dozens of cities around the world and their lives were about to change forever.

In An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, author Hank Green takes a look at the idea of fame in the age of viral videos, YouTube stars, and social media influencers—but more than that, it is a declaration of his belief in humanity. In such a turbulent time, when it can be so easy to only see the bad in the world and in each other, Green reminds us that humanity is overwhelmingly good. April May's story will make you proud to be a human.

-Maggie

* Speaking of the holidays, BookPeople is teaming up with thirteen local nonprofits and hosting give-back days throughout December. It's a great way to support your local independent bookstore and these amazing organizations this season!

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