Looking for Alaska by John Green

Bibliography:

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton Books, 2005. ISBN 0525475060

Plot Summary:

Miles Halter is a sixteen-year-old who doesn’t have many friends, reads the end of biographies, and memorizes the last words of famous people. He decides to go away to boarding school to search for the “great perhaps”, the last words of Francois Rabelais. He leaves his home and parents in Florida and moves to the Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama.

His roommate is Chip Martin, otherwise known as “the Colonel”, who immediately nicknames him “Pudge”. The Colonel introduces Pudge to his friends; Alaska Young, Takumi Hikohito, and Lara Buterskaya. Pudge is immediately attracted to Alaska even though she is very moody, dramatic, and has a boyfriend. His life gets exciting as he becomes friends with this group. They study together, they smoke, get drunk, and play pranks on classmates. Miles feels like a normal kid, living a normal life…until a terrible accident changes everything and nothing will ever be the same again.

Critical Analysis:

On the surface, Looking for Alaska appears to be a book about unrequited love, teenage angst, or illicit behavior. But, really, it is about so much more than that. It is about finding our purpose in life. “Francois Rabelais. He was this poet. And his last words were ‘I go to seek a Great Perhaps.’ That’s why I’m going. So I don’t have to wait until I die to start seeking a Great Perhaps.” Teens can identify with wanting a purpose in their life. They will also relate to others themes found in the book including friendship, home, love, and choices. Set at Culver Creek Prep, Looking for Alaska goes beyond this setting and has implications for readers in many other situations. We’ve all struggled to make a friend or have experienced unreciprocated love. Many themes in this story are universal and touch us all in one way or another.

Each character in this novel is unique, fascinating, and memorable. Readers will feel a connection to one, if not all, of them. The five become great friends and that friendship is tested. All five characters are high school juniors and tell this story from a teenager’s viewpoint. The five of them make up different racial and social classes. Pudge is from a normal, middle-class, two-parent home and follows in his father’s footsteps. The Colonel comes from a single-parent household, is poor and attends Culver Creek on scholarship. He also adores his very cool mother. Takumi is Japanese and acts as a sounding board for Miles; he is also good at keeping secrets. Alaska is the troubled one…her mother is dead and she is haunted by this childhood tragedy. Lara is Romanian and joins the group later as Pudge’s girlfriend.

The book is divided into two parts, before and after. This is a unique style technique and very effective with this particular story. John Green is a big favorite with teens and now I understand why. He has a unique ability to speak their language and to make his characters real to teens. For readers, these are real people with real problems and they stay with us long after the story is finished.

What really resonated with me about this book was that when a tragedy happens such as a death or a suicide, we always want to know why it happened. What I appreciated about this story is that it shows us that there is not always an answer to questions such as these. We can look and search, but at some point we just have to accept it. I think this an invaluable lesson for teens, for us all.

Review Excerpts:

• 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
• New York Times bestseller
• Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
• 2005 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year 
• From Horn Book- " The narrative concludes with an essay Miles writes about this event for his religion class -- an unusually heavy-handed note in an otherwise mature novel, peopled with intelligent characters who talk smart, yet don't always behave that way, and are thus notably complex and realistically portrayed teenagers."
• From Kirkus Reviews (starred) "What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent."
• From Library Media Connection- " Looking for Alaska will haunt readers with its memorable characters, its literary and philosophical questions about life and death that so fascinate teens, and its ultimate affirmation of a life lived fully. Highly Recommended."
• From Publishers Weekly- "But the novel's chief appeal lies in Miles's well-articulated lust and his initial excitement about being on his own for the first time. Readers will only hope that this is not the last word from this promising new author."
• From School Library Journal- "The language and sexual situations are aptly and realistically drawn, but sophisticated in nature. Miles's narration is alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor, and his obvious struggle to tell the story truthfully adds to his believability. Like Phineas in John Knowles's A Separate Peace (S & S, 1960), Green draws Alaska so lovingly, in self-loathing darkness as well as energetic light, that readers mourn her loss along with her friends."

Connections:

Share other books written by John Green with students:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson ISBN 9780142418475

Paper Towns ISBN 9780142414934

An Abundance of Katherines ISBN 9780142410707

The Fault in Our Stars ISBN 9780142424179

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Lauren Myracle, & Maureen Johnson ISBN 9780142412145

Have students create their own ideal last line.

Share other Young Adult books students might enjoy:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 9781594744761

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs ISBN 9781594746123

Before I Die by Jenny Downham ISBN 9780385751834

Surrender by Sonya Hartnett ISBN 97807633634230

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous ISBN 9781416914631

I am the Messenger by Markus Zurak ISBN 9780375836671

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff ISBN 9780553376050

Visit John Green's website & check it out!
http://johngreenbooks.com/

Have students write their own personal "before" and "after" story. They could also write a personal reflection on events which have changed the direction of their lives.