Looking for Alaska by John Green

Green, John. Looking for Alaska.

Dutton Juvenile; 2005,

ISBN: 0525475060.

Reader’s Annotation

Fourteen-year-old Miles sets off to find his "Great Perhaps", surprisingly in a boarding school in rural Alabama, and along with his assortment of friends and a fascinating girl named Alaska, he thinks he's found it.

 

Plot Summary

Miles Halter, also known as “Pudge”, has a collection.  He collects quotations of famous last words, and not only that, but he ponders their meanings at great length.  One quote is: "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." - (last words of Francois Rabelais).  It is this quote that intrigues and inspires this skinny, bright 15-year-old kid to leave home and go seek his own “great perhaps”, which in his case means going to boarding school in rural Alabama.  There, Miles meets his boisterous, out-going roommate known as “The Colonel”.  It’s through the Colonel that Miles is welcomed into an odd circle of friends, including: Lara, the beautiful Romanian student;  Takumi, the quiet-spoken and musical Japanese whiz kid; and sexy, impulsive, and spirited Alaska, the obvious leader of the group. For a while, the plot mainly chronicles the antics and consequences of the group at the school—including pranks, sneaking out to smoke cigarettes off campus, and drinking in the rooms.  But then It happens—the plot twist that stops you cold and make you reevaluate everything you’ve judged about the characters and their actions.  Miles ponders anew his second quotes: “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" - Simón Bolívar (last words).

Critical Evaluation

Green structures Looking for Alaska in two part—“before” and “after”.  Even the chapters are entitled accordingly (ie- "One hundred and thirty-six days before").  From the outset, you know that something’s coming, but Green gives no warning about the plot twist to come.  The “before” portion of the story is filled with funny, poignant, and exasperating happenings—sort of the, “day-to-day-group-of-friends-at-school model that you might expect.  Green’s depiction of Alaska is especially complex.  She can be at once loving and fun, and the next moody and melancholy.  We are given a few hints throughout the first part, but it is really only upon reexamination that they become obvious.  Boys in particular will be able to identify with Miles as he journeys through the story.      

Information about the Author

John Green grew up in Orlando, Florida before attending Indian Springs School and then Kenyon College.  Besides Looking for Alaska, Green is the author of An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. He is also the coauthor, with David Levithan, of Will Grayson, Will Grayson.  In 2007, Green and his brother, Hank stopped “all texual communication and began to talk primarily through videoblog posted to YouTube”—That began a new movement of people dubbed nerdfighters “fight for intellectualism and to decrease the overall worldwide level of suck. (Decreasing suck takes many forms: Nerdfighters have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight poverty in the developing world; they also planted thousands of trees around the world in May of 2010 to celebrate Hank’s 30th birthday.)”  For more information, go to: http://johngreenbooks.com/looking-for-alaska/

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Tie-ins

None

Booktalk  Ideas

Describe what you think the “labyrinth” was for Alaska?

Do you think that Miles was to blame for what happened?

Reading level/Interest age

Young Adult (ages 14+)

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

Explicit sexual content

Profanity

Underage drinking and smoking

Be ready with a copy of the library’s selection policy
Be familiar with similar works in the collection
Looking for Alaska’s awards and honors include:
--2006 Michael L. Printz Award
--Finalist, 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
--2006 Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults
--2006 Teens’ Top 10 Award
--2006 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
--A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
--A Booklist Editor’s Choice Pick
--Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
--Borders Original Voices Selection

Why I included this work

This was recommended as great book for teenage boys. I also noticed all the awards and publicity associated with Looking for Alaska.

Great Quotes from the Book:

"So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."

"The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive."