3 John Green first editions are documented on this shelf, from Looking for Alaska (2005) to The Fault in Our Stars (2012) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that John Green title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a John Green copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Looking for Alaska — 2005 · Dutton BooksThe copyright page of the Dutton hardcover states "First Edition," but that statement is NOT the point of issue — dealers routinely report ninth- and twelfth-printing copies that still carry the "First Edition" line (one documented twelfth printing reads "First Edition" above a number line beginning 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12). The operative test is the number line: a true first printing carries a complete number…. The census claim is confirmed. Dutton Books, New York, March 2005 is the true first edition of Green's debut. HarperCollins Children's Books (London) published the first UK edition in 2006 (reported July 2006); it is collected only as the first British edition and has no precedence. Green writes in English, so no original-language question arises. First-thus traps: the Dutton Special 10th Anniversary Edition…. No dedicated book-club issue is documented for this title. The recurring traps are (1) later Dutton printings that retain the "First Edition" statement — identify by number line only; (2) Speak trade-paperback reprints from 2006 onward (Speak is Penguin's paperback imprint); (3) the 2015 10th Anniversary and Deluxe editions; and (4) Dutton advance reading copies/proofs, which precede publication but are not the….
- Paper Towns — 2008 · Dutton BooksDutton Books, New York, published 16 October 2008; ISBN 978-0-525-47818-8. First printings carry the complete number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page — the "1" must be present; several dealers also report a "First Edition" statement, but the number line is the point every source agrees on, so read it. Bound in quarter black cloth over blue boards with blue spine lettering. Jacket should be…. The census claim is confirmed and can be stated more strongly. Dutton US (16 October 2008) is the unambiguous true first — the Bloomsbury UK edition did not follow until 3 May 2010, so there is no UK/US precedence or simultaneity question here. On the two jackets: both were issued on the original American hardcover and both count as first-edition jackets; neither has precedence. Dealers consistently describe the…. No title-specific book-club issue was confirmed in the sources consulted. Later-issue tells: any copy whose number line lacks the "1"; Bloomsbury UK copies (2010 and later, different ISBN); and the September 2009 Dutton paperback carrying the third cover image. General period tells for club copies apply — reduced trim and lighter bulk, no price at the jacket flap or "Book Club Edition" printed at the front flap,….
- The Fault in Our Stars — 2012 · Dutton BooksDutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, New York, published 10 January 2012; octavo, 313 pages, ISBN 9780525478812, in the deep sky blue jacket/spine with black and white lettering. The only reliable first-printing point is the copyright page: a full number line ending in 1. The signature is NOT a first-printing point in the ordinary sense and must not be used as one on its own — Green announced…. US precedence: Dutton Books, New York, 10 January 2012 is the true first and precedes the UK Penguin edition of 2012. There is no original-language or UK edition competing for precedence — the census claim stands. The later Dutton Collector's Edition (ISBN 9780525426349) and the Penguin Minis are "first thus" only. No book-club edition is documented for this title. The census claim conflating "Hanklerfish" with the publisher's signed first printing is wrong and is corrected here: the Hanklerfish is an anglerfish drawn by the author's brother, Hank Green, added at certain stops on the 2012 tour (New Orleans is the stop most often cited), so Hanklerfish copies are tour-signed additions to an already-signed first printing, not….
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: John Grisham, John Hawkes, John Hersey, John Irving, John Kennedy Toole, John M. Ford.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.