"THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Sparkling with mystery; humor and the uncanny; this is a fun read. But beneath its effervescent tone; more complex themes are at play." -San Francisco Chronicle In his wildly entertaining debut novel; Hank Green-cocreator of Crash Course; Vlogbrothers; and SciShow-spins a sweeping; cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger; and stranger; than anyone could have possibly imagined. The Carls just appeared. Roaming through New York City at three a.m.; twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship-like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor-April and her best friend; Andy; make a video with it; which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day; April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world-from Beijing to Buenos Aires-and April; as their first documentarian; finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world; April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships; her safety; and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are; but what they want from us. Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant; An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes; including how the social internet is changing fame; rhetoric; and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring for the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye. The beginning of an exciting fiction career; An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now."