Looking for Alaska by John Green
Looking for Alaska by John Green follows Miles Halter as he embarks on new experiences at his boarding school Culver Creek, where he experiences a lot of firsts and meets Alaska Young, a confident yet moody and unpredictable girl. With Alaska and other friends on Miles's side, they make memories and ponder the "Great Perhaps" until tragedy strikes, and Miles and his friends do their best to figure out the why. Looking for Alaska is told in two parts, the "before" and the "after," and John Green does a terrific job portraying Miles and his friends as they experience the multitude of emotions that comes with life experiences.
Looking for Alaska is beautifully written. John Green can make you feel for his characters, especially when faced with significant life events such as the death of Alaska Young. Miles and his friend's guilt due to them not stopping Alaska before she died feels very real, and you almost wish you could comfort the characters. The book does mention several strong topics such as death, loss, underage drinking, underage smoking, sex, and depression, and there is one scene where Miles is given oral sex. Despite the significant topics in the books, John Green does a fantastic job of making sure not to glamorize any of them.
The book ends with Miles and his friends coming to terms with Alaska's death, though I do wish the book touched more on Alaska's depression. A significant point in the book's second half is the guilt Miles feels due to him not doing anything to stop Alaska on the night of her death. Throughout the book, Miles and his friends learn more about Alaska and realize she has not had the easiest life, and one way she deals with her emotions is through drinking. I wish the book had a scene at the end where Miles mentions this to the Eagle (the principal), and the school could have had an assembly with the students telling them they offered counseling so the students knew they had support. The book is a heartbreaking story of a teen experiencing many firsts, from love to grief, loss, and self-forgiveness. Readers will laugh and possibly cry as they follow Miles through his junior year at Culver Creek. Kirkus states that John's writing is a "mastery of language" and that "girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent."
At the end of Looking for Alaska, John Green does offer a section called "Questions for Discussion," which would be a perfect opportunity for a book club or a class to discuss the novel in more depth and detail. If you are looking for a read similar to Looking for Alaska, John Green has written many other award-winning books, such as The Fault in Our Stars and Abundance of Katherines. Other titles similar to Looking for Alaska include Paper Towns, and We Are Okay.
Awards for Looking for Alaska:
- Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award
- A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
- A New York Times Bestseller
- A USA Today Bestseller
- NPR’s Top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels
- TIME magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time
- A PBS Great American Read Selection
Sources
Green, J. (2005, March 1). Looking for Alaska. Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-green/looking-for-alaska-2/
Looking for Alaska by John Green. Penguin Random House Canada. (n.d.). https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/292717/looking-for-alaska-by-john-green/9780593109069
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