What’s the hardest book to write successfully? For me, it would be a novel about teenagers who have cancer, fall in love, and then die. The challenges include: creating a page-turner (even though the readers know how it will end), having the characters be interesting but not unrealistically heroic, using a complicated tone that is a blend of melancholy, sweet, philosophical and funny, making it appeal to adults (even though it’s about teenagers), and elevating the theme by using a line from Shakespeare that is poignant and accessible. John Green met these challenges, and this wonderful book sold 23 million copies.
Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Penguin Books, 2012, p. 217.