John Green, author and a semi-professional videoblogger, lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with his wife, Sarah and his dog Willy. He was born in Indianapolis in 1977, grew up in Florida and then moved to Alabama where he attended Indian Springs School, a boarding and day school outside of Birmingham. The setting for his first book, Looking for Alaska, which won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award, was largely inspired by his time at Indian Springs School.
John graduated from Kenyon College in 2000 with a double major in English and Religious Studies and then spent six months as a student chaplain at a children’s hospital. After that, John started writing about books for Booklist magazine in Chicago. He’s also written for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Chicago’s public radio station, WBEZ.
But writing’s not his only thing. He actually ceased all text-based communication with his brother Hank in 2007 when he and Hank decided to be in touch instead by video blog. The year-long Brotherhood 2.0 project was wildly popular and the brothers continue vlogging for more than 100,000 subscribers.
In this interview, John talks about thinking critically about what you read and watch and how even the Babysitter’s Club books can offer insight.
