book reviews looking for alaska

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Looking for alaska, common sense media reviewers.

Teens process tragic loss in thought-provoking novel.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

This book is on many school reading lists; teacher

Looking for Alaska will give older teens a lot to

Even though the main characters often behave badly

A fatal car wreck, a possible suicide, and a chara

Most of the teen characters have lost their virgin

Occasional strong language, including "ass," "s--t

Fast food restaurants, soda brands mentioned.

Lots of underage drinking, fake IDs, drunkenness a

Parents need to know that John Green's Looking for Alaska won the Michael J. Printz Award and many other literary awards. It's the story of a group of fun-loving, rule-breaking teens who are rocked by a tragedy and must process the grief and loss. There's lots of sex (descriptions of heavy kissing,…

Educational Value

This book is on many school reading lists; teachers interested in adding it to their curriculum can find a thorough discussion guide on the publisher's website. Teachers and parents can use Green's novel as a way to talk about big issues, such as loss and growing up, or explore the book's literary language or unusual structure to talk about the art of writing.

Positive Messages

Looking for Alaska will give older teens a lot to think about, most obviously about loss and what it means to journey into a "Great Perhaps." When it comes to guilt and grief, it's important to forgive not only others but also ourselves. People deal with loss and responsibility in different ways.

Positive Role Models

Even though the main characters often behave badly, readers will respond to the realistic teens here who come together to face a devastating loss. Also, every adult is warm, caring, and intelligent: The parents, the teachers, the local cop -- even the requisite rigid disciplinarian who enforces the rules at school is not clueless, has a sense of humor, and cares deeply about the students.

Violence & Scariness

A fatal car wreck, a possible suicide, and a character has gruesome dreams about the wreck and its aftermath. Cruel pranks are played on Miles and the other characters as well that often result in plans for revenge.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Most of the teen characters have lost their virginity, and there are some descriptions of heavy kissing, oral sex, groping, references to masturbation, erections, making out, watching pornography, etc. Author John Green has described the frank sex scene as "wholly unerotic," especially in contrast to the book's next more intimate (but less graphic) encounter.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Occasional strong language, including "ass," "s--t," and f--k," in realistic teen dialogue.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Lots of underage drinking, fake IDs, drunkenness and hangovers, drunk driving, etc., but it's alcohol is not glamorized. Nor is the constant smoking or references to marijuana.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that John Green's Looking for Alaska won the Michael J. Printz Award and many other literary awards. It's the story of a group of fun-loving, rule-breaking teens who are rocked by a tragedy and must process the grief and loss. There's lots of sex (descriptions of heavy kissing, oral sex, groping, references to masturbation, erections, making out, watching pornography), drinking, strong language (including "s--t" and f--k"), and smoking, including of marijuana, but nothing is gratuitous or glamorized. It all illuminates character and theme. This award-winning book is considered a modern classic and is on many high school reading lists. It can help both teachers and parents talk about loss, friendship, and the importance of self-discovery.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (46)
• Kids say (207)

Based on 46 parent reviews

Everyone should read this!

It's really not as shocking as people think it is, what's the story.

In LOOKING FOR ALASKA, Miles, tired of his friendless, dull life in Florida, convinces his parents to send him away to boarding school in Alabama so that he can seek "the Great Perhaps." There he meets his roommate and soon-to-be best friend, Chip, called the Colonel, and Alaska Young, the moody, gorgeous, wild girl who instantly becomes the object of his lust. Miles is quickly enlisted in their war against the Weekday Warriors, the rich kids who go home every weekend, and they bond over elaborate pranks, studying, and assorted rule-breaking. About halfway through the book a tragedy occurs, and those left spend the rest of the book trying to make sense of it, to solve the mystery it leaves behind, and to pull off one last, greatest-ever prank.

Is It Any Good?

This coming-of-age novel is gorgeously written, passionate, hilarious, moving, thought-provoking, character-driven, and literary. It deserves all the awards it's won. The characters may often behave badly, but they are vividly real, complex, and beautifully drawn -- and their stories can help readers start dealing with some big topics, like self-discovery and loss. Looking for Alaska is a hard one to put down. Since new chapters don't start on new pages, there's always a temptation to read just a little bit further. For the first half at least, readers will be grinning all the way -- and in the end, they will be moved, maybe even to tears.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the mature content iin Looking for Alaska, including a frank sex scene. Do you think including it was essential to the story? What does it tell readers about the characters?

What does Miles mean when he goes off to boarding school in search of what 16th-century French author Francois Rabelais called "the Great Perhaps"? Do we all need to go on a similar search to discover ourselves?

Why do you think Looking for Alaska has often turned up on the American Library Association's Most Frequently Challenged book list? Why do you think it remains so popular with teens years after it was originally published?

Book Details

• Author : John Green
• Genre : Coming of Age
• Topics : Friendship , High School
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Dutton Children's Books
• Publication date : February 5, 2006
• Number of pages : 221
• Last updated : March 3, 2020

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LOOKING FOR ALASKA

by John Green ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2005

Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska’s vanilla-and-cigarettes scent.

The Alaska of the title is a maddening, fascinating, vivid girl seen through the eyes of Pudge (Miles only to his parents), who meets Alaska at boarding school in Alabama.

Pudge is a skinny (“irony” says his roommate, the Colonel, of the nickname) thoughtful kid who collects and memorizes famous people’s last words. The Colonel, Takumi, Alaska and a Romanian girl named Lara are an utterly real gaggle of young persons, full of false starts, school pranks, moments of genuine exhilaration in learning and rather too many cigarettes and cheap bottles of wine. Their engine and center is Alaska, given to moodiness and crying jags but also full of spirit and energy, owner of a roomful of books she says she’s going to spend her life reading. Her center is a woeful family tragedy, and when Alaska herself is lost, her friends find their own ways out of the labyrinth, in part by pulling a last, hilarious school prank in her name. What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green’s mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge’s voice.

Pub Date: March 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-525-47506-0

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCHOOL & FRIENDSHIP

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More by John Green

BOOK REVIEW

by John Green

More About This Book

BOOK TO SCREEN

SEEN & HEARD

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.

Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.

Pub Date: April 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More by Laura Nowlin

by Laura Nowlin

IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.

In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me , three characters tell their sides of the story.

Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781728276229

Page Count: 416

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE

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Book Review

Looking for alaska.

• Coming-of-Age

Readability Age Range

• Dutton Children's Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Reader's Group
• 2006 Michael L. Printz Award and an ALA Best Books for Young Adults

Year Published

Looking for Alaska by John Green has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Miles (Pudge) Halter goes to boarding school in search of the “great perhaps,” — a phrase attributed to French humanist Francois Rabelais about discovering the possibilities of life beyond the present — along with his new classmates Chip (the Colonel) Martin, Takumi and beautiful but troubled Alaska. Alaska spends most of her free time drinking, smoking and musing. She is legendary for instigating pranks against the school’s rich kids and leadership. But one night after a prank and a drinking binge with Pudge and the gang, Alaska crashes her car and dies. Alaska’s friends spend the rest of the book trying to piece together the events of that night, to forgive themselves for not stopping her and to understand what really happens to someone after death.

Christian Beliefs

While Dr. Hyde, the aging world religions teacher, doesn’t provide false information about Christ and Christianity, he gives a textbook presentation, empty of any discussion about Christ’s power to restore broken lives. He also places Christianity on a level playing field with Islam and Buddhism. When Pudge’s school competes against a Christian school’s basketball team, the Christians do a “hellfire” cheer, and Pudge and friends yell out faith-mocking comments from the bleachers.

Other Belief Systems

Pudge and friends study Buddhism and Islam alongside Christianity in their world religions class.

Authority Roles

Pudge’s parents support his desire to attend boarding school. His father (an alumnus of the school) even helps him pull a prank on the faculty. Mr. Starnes (the dean of students, known to Pudge’s crew as The Eagle) allows a student jury to mete out punishment. Mr. Starnes is the subject of many pranks but remains fairly good-natured about them. He displays deep, genuine sorrow when Alaska dies, even though she was one of his worst troublemakers. Dr. Hyde gains the respect of Pudge and others with his philosophical explanations of religious leaders and the afterlife. For his class final, he asks each student to use his newly enlightened mind to determine how he, personally, will escape what Alaska had always called the “labyrinth of suffering.”

Profanity & Violence

The teenagers’ dialogue is littered with the f-word and s—, as well as other, milder profanities. The bulk of their discussions rapidly turn crass and/or sexual.

Sexual Content

When everyone else is gone for Thanksgiving, Alaska and Pudge ransack people’s rooms in search of porn. Alaska, a self-proclaimed sex addict, tells the guys a story about getting her breast “honked” and provides Pudge’s girlfriend with graphic instructions on how to give him oral sex (which the girl promptly does). While dating another guy, Alaska makes out with Pudge. Pudge obsesses over Alaska’s body. Prior to meeting her, however, he confesses that he wouldn’t care who his girlfriend was as long as he had someone to make out with.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Looking for Alaska by John Green - review

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars was what won me over. He was different, fresh and knew how to put a new spin on books based on teenage life without landing them straight in the cliché category. His debut novel, Looking For Alaska, is a showcase to the raw talent John Green has, the kind of talent that can make you close the crisp last page of a novel and come out as a different person.

Looking For Alaska cannot be merely written off as a typical boy-meets-girl love story, because it isn't. It's more of a tale of how love isn't as translucent as it seems.

Miles Halter or "Pudge" as he is referred to throughout the book, is the protagonist, and the book starts with Miles leaving Florida to attend a school in Alabama. He's introduced by his roommates to beautiful, mysterious and emotionally confused Alaska Young, and the story progresses, mostly centered around Miles' life at Culver Creek and his growing attachment to Alaska. There are also essential parts of teenage life thrown in casually and skillfully to the story, such as pranks, bets and disastrous parties.

The beauty of the book is that it doesn't hide anything. It showcases what young love and growing up really are in a brutal and honest light. How the characters communicate, their relationships with each other, their pasts and the pleasure that comes with being a bad kid shine through the pages. Why I prefer John Green's debut novel to his other ones is because he's made no effort to make it an appropriate and proper book. You might not weep buckets like most people did at the end of The Fault in Our Stars, but you'll get attached to Miles and Alaska, just as they do to each other.

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Review: ‘Looking For Alaska’ but Finding Talky Teens

Hulu’s adaptation of the John Green novel hits familiar story beats but feels hollow.

• Share full article

By Margaret Lyons

The novel “Looking For Alaska,” by John Green, was published in 2005, and that same year Josh Schwartz, the creator of “The O.C.,” signed on to write and direct a feature adaptation.

Then 14 years went by. Green wrote and co-wrote six other books, including the huge hit “The Fault In Our Stars,” and he amassed a tremendous vlog audience. Schwartz finished “The O.C.,” created “Chuck” and co-created “Gossip Girl” and half a dozen other shows with Stephanie Savage. YA literature gained a broader level of cultural respect, and teen TV conquered new genres and platforms — thanks in part to Green and Schwartz and Savage themselves.

And now the long-awaited “Looking For Alaska” adaptation has finally come to be, not as a feature film but as an eight-episode mini-series on Hulu, born into a world it already helped shape. It’s a new show, but somehow not.

The story, inspired by Green’s own high school experience, is intact: Miles Halter (Charlie Plummer) is restless in his hometown and heads off to boarding school seeking adventure, but the kind of adventure that anxious nerds seek — mostly adventurous reading and maybe a prank or two. He immediately befriends his roommate, known as The Colonel ( Denny Love ), The Colonel’s friend Takumi (Jay Lee ) and their friend Alaska (Kristine Froseth ).

The series is structured around a “before” and “after” storytelling device, first deployed in the show’s opening moments: A catastrophic car crash looms, and the show counts the days leading up to it and the days that come after . Though the crash is the turning point of the story, it doesn’t come until quite late in the season, which feels like a lot of “before.” Though I guess that’s how befores often feel.

Alaska is special, because girls in stories like this are always special. She’s a wannabe Rayanne Graff with a book collection, the girl who feels more and needs more and has more secrets, who’s “bad” but in the best ways, who knows things about sex and alcohol. The volatility is part of the draw.

“You don’t sound like you’re in high school,” a mumbly liquor store clerk tells Alaska, who thinks she is acting cool but is actually acting annoying.

“That, Gus, is the whole point,” she replies.

It’s the point of lots of teen shows, and lots of the actual lives of teens, this desire to be older, freer, smarter, worldlier. The way this show enacts that frustration, though, often lapses into tediousness, closer to the worst goopy grandeur of “Dawson’s Creek” than the energetic cleverness of “The O.C.”

Part of that is the strenuously precocious, self-consciously pretentious dialogue — in and of itself not a vice, and certainly accurate for the kind of teens these teens are. But “Looking For Alaska” is nostalgic for itself , like it’s admiring itself in a mirror instead of making eye contact. This neutralizes the immediacy and intimacy that can make coming-of-age stories so special. We can go along for the ride, like “Freaks and Geeks,” or we can have some distance to reflect, like “The Wonder Years,” but not both.

“Small moments forge deep bonds,” the wise teacher (Ron Cephas Jones) tells Miles and his peripheral love interest ( Sofia Vassilieva ). I mean, yeah, it’s true, but declaring it breaks the spell, and turns a genuine small moment into a benediction from a dying sage. That’s a good moment to have, too, but it’s a different thing.

The show’s need to make declarations leads it astray in other ways, too. Technically it’s set in 2005, but that is established via titles and music only, not through any other kind of specificity. The soundtrack is omnipresent, with a who’s who of indie cool of the time (Rilo Kiley, Modest Mouse), but the show is mostly from Miles’s point of view, and the songs don’t seem like songs he’d listen to. He is not secretly cool. He’s a kindly, virginal dweeb, and the only thing he demonstrates any interest in, other than Alaska, is memorizing famous people’s last words.

So the soundtrack becomes less of an expression and more of a framing device. We have entered dangerous territory when a Sufjan Stevens song is not sufficiently sad and thus an even sadder cover of the song is used in its stead — and not to portray sadness, but to evoke it where the script and performances can’t or won’t.

Which works. Of course it works! A lot of the show works because the conventions of teen stories are effective. There’s a big dance. There are pranks. There is one mean administrator (Timothy Simons) who is secretly worthy of compassion, parents who don’t get it, parents who do get it, a holiday, a party, truth or dare, important kissing, cigarettes.

The story and particulars of the book are present, but not Miles’s interiority or processes. Part of adolescence is sometimes feeling like you’re stuck as the incidental supporting character when everyone else is the star of a show. In Miles’s case, though, he’s right.

Margaret Lyons is a television critic. She previously spent five years as a writer and TV columnist for Vulture.com. She helped launch Time Out Chicago and later wrote for Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. More about Margaret Lyons

Looking for Alaska By John Green Book Review: What Is The Way Out Of The Labyrinth?

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The story in Looking for Alaska is set in a time when everyone is building their self-image, identity, dreams, and love lives – high school. John Green introduces us to Miles Halter, who is the unreliable narrator of this story (But, as you know, the story revolves around our heroine, Alaska) He remembers the last words of famous people – that is his ‘thing’. And unlike Francois Rabelais, whose last words are ‘ I go to seek a Great Perhaps ‘, he does not want to wait till the end of his life to see his Great Perhaps. 

So he goes to Culver Creek – a boarding school like every other boarding school. There is cigarettes, truth & dare, pranks, parents who are cool, parents who don’t get it, the warden (The Eagle, as we know him), and the students in two rival groups (Weekday Warriors and those who stay 24*7 in the school).  

One particular line that I loved about the Weekday Warriors: “ They love their hair because they’re not smart enough to love something more interesting .” The pleasures of hating in teenage envy are apparent.  

The relatability is why the story works. 

At Culver Creek, our narrator, Miles, turns into Pudge, a nickname his roommate, Chip (or as he is called, The Colonel) gives him. Pudge quickly becomes a part of Colonel’s group consisting of Takumi, a Japanese kid with a Southern accent, and Alaska, who is the “ hottest girl in all of human history ”. Miles is new to the Alabama sun, the hostel, and the women. 

The reader is introduced to the heroine of our story, Alaska Young. As a character, she is predictable. I would go as far as to say that she is typical. She is moody, spontaneous, secretive, bookish, feminist, has a tough past. She is flirty, dreamy, and unavailable. The only detail that I absolutely adored about her was the fact that she had named herself when she was young. 

As it is clear, I wasn’t particularly fond of Alaska. Like Miles himself, I only saw parts of her, liked only certain aspects of her personality, and did not seem to “get” the whole package. But I like unlikeable characters in a book. I like being made uncomfortable about still empathizing with them, still understanding them. That is exactly what Looking for Alaska does. In her own words, “ You never get me, that’s the whole point. ”

‘Looking for Alaska’ becomes more than just a teen drama when Alaska dies. I was a fan of the narrative when the big story-turn happens in the middle (The separation of Before and After ) because, usually, these big turns are safely taken either at the end of the novel or right upfront at the beginning. 

Everyone ponders Alaska’s death, including the readers. Everyone ponders about her assignment topic question about what truly is the labyrinth and what is the way out: “ That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape- the world or the end of it?” These words of Simon Bolivar are Alaska’s final questions to Pudge and to us. 

And Pudge answers it. All the readers get a Crash Course (see what I did there?) on Eastern Religion and the answers it provides. He gets an epiphany at Takumi’s confession, which is as truthful as it is heartbreaking, “ If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can’t know better until knowing better is useless “. They could not know better. They wish they did. The irony is consistent and sits well. Pudge will never know Alaska’s last words. He will never know if she chose to end her life or if it was an accident that they could’ve avoided. He will have to sit with these questions and the uncertainty of everything all his life. 

But the only way out of the labyrinth is to forgive. And Alaska would’ve forgiven them. 

But the Easter Religion epiphany, although impactful, was quick, shallow, and exotic. Another thing that never added up was why Jake, Alaska’s boyfriend, wasn’t at her funeral. It doesn’t make sense. 

Looking for Alaska has also been criticized for only being made for a teen mind – when everything is big, everyone wants to seem smart & worldly, all decisions are impulsive & irrational. It can come off as many years far behind to someone older. But that is what literature is supposed to do: make you feel like a teenager again, make you nostalgic for all of your dumb decisions, make you remember all of the things that seemed big then (and maybe they were big, you know?). 

For me, John Green entices that feeling perfectly. His literature (and videos) stay with me for days on end. I forget the plot, the characters, the narrative, but the emotions stay with me. The meaning stays with me. The questions stay with me. On sudden random cloudy Wednesday afternoons, I dwell on the sentences of John Green. Take one, for instance, “ Imagining the future is kind of like living in a nostalgia ” – actually spoken by Green’s wife . 

In Looking For Alaska, I felt the angst, the frustration, the joys, the worries, the amusements, and the being of being a teenager. By the end, I felt as if someone (someone being John Green’s writing) had poked a hole in my heart. 

I usually hate books and movies that end with questions. I detest unreliable narrators like Miles Halter. But this book has made me sit with the big questions , taught me to be comfortable with having them with me all along. 

Because I still don’t know my way out of the labyrinth. 

Find this book on Amazon here .

PS: Big thanks to Prakhar for gifting me this book. 

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Looking for Alaska

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Book Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

Genre: Contemporary YA

Publisher: Speak/ HarperCollins Children’sBooks (UK) Publication date: March 2005/ July 2006 (UK) Paperback: 272 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

First drink, first prank, first friend, first girl, last words! A poignant and moving crossover novel about making friends and growing up from American author, John Green. Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words — and tired of his safe, boring and rather lonely life at home. He leaves for boarding school filled with cautious optimism, to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another.

Why did I read the book: John Green is right now, one of my favorite writers.

How did I get the book: Bought.

I don’t know how to write this review. I don’t think I was really prepared for this book even though I read all of John Green’s books; ironically, I read this one last, but this is actually his first and all I have to say about this is: REALLY? This is John Green’s first book? Holy $£%^! Expletives aside, I was expecting something I didn’t get, but what I got was so much better. This is probably his most serious and thoughtful book which is to say a lot, because all of his books are to some extent, serious and thoughtful. It is also a painful book to read but I didn’t know how much until the halfway mark when BAM, surprise, surprise and this is partly what makes this review a difficult one to write because Looking for Alaska is a book that can’t be spoiled and I therefore, can’t discuss some parts of the story the way I would have wanted – but I believe this is for the Ultimate Good because this is a Wonderful Book!

Are these Grandiose Exclamations with Capital Letters really a necessity, you might be asking yourself, to wit, I say, yes, yes they are and they are actually quite fitting as well, given as how this book deals with the meaning of life, with guilt and grief, with last words and first loves; all from the point of view of Miles Halter, 16 year old, a skinny, nerdy guy. He is friendless, lonely, and his greatest quirk is to read biographies in search of last words. François Rabelais’s is:

“I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” and is in search of his Great Perhaps that Miles decides to attend the Culver Creek Boarding School where he hopes to start anew. There he makes friends with his roommate Chip, aka “the Colonel” (who immediately starts calling Miles, Pudge) , a guy named Takumi and their best friend, a girl called Alaska Young. Alaska is the wild, beautiful, intelligent, moody, mysterious, unattainable girl whom Miles falls irrevocably in love with.

The book is divided between Before and After and I did not know (for a change I went in completely unspoiled) what is going to be the pivotal point of divide until it hits but there is an inescapable sense of dread as the days pass, building the After. The event is indeed calamitous and it’s only when it happens that the different between the Before and After becomes oh, so clear. The Before is made up of routine, of monotony, of mundane happenings: kids going to classes, coming up with pranks, drinking, smoking, doing stupid things, hooking up and talking to each other about Stuff like Simón Bolívar’s last words:

‘How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” So what’s the labyrinth?’ I asked her… That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape- the world or the end of it?”

This “labyrinth” becomes a central discussion encompassing all characters at one point, when the After comes. That’s when the book loses the mundane and reaches the momentous. And it is a grave, serious, painful and genuine journey until we are able to close the book.

I loved Miles because I recognised quite a bit of my teenage self in him. This sense of knowing exactly how certain things are and feel is definitely a plus when trying to understand a character. Even though Alaska is not a favourite (Too moody? Too mysterious? Too fantastic? ) , I can certainly get why Miles would fall in love with her so easily and so abruptly because I know how some people have a certain gravitational field that entrance others. But in any case, I don’t think that the book is about Alaska any more than Paper Towns was about Margo Roth Spiegelman. The girls are mirrors or windows from which to observe the boy-narrator’s lives and this is perhaps my greatest criticisms: that the girls are more out of this world, impossible realities that serve more as plot-propeller than concrete characters in themselves. I am sure some will disagree with me, but this is how I felt about both Margo Roth Spiegelman and Alaska Young and to some extent I feel these girls deserved more. BUT and this is a great but, as I said before the books ARE more about how these two influence and touch the guys’ lives so my point might as well be moot.

John Green’s prose is insanely good writing because it is the kind of writing that creeps in little by little and it’s like I start reading a paragraph and it seems like any regular paragraph in the world of books, until I reach its end and then it hits me and I realise that there is more beauty in one single paragraph of a John Green book than in entire book collections out there.

But what makes John Green’s books wonderful books to me is the fact that I think about them, about the decisions and revelations and lines for hours and days in a row. Sometimes, I forget the name of the characters, sometimes, I forget the details of the stories, but I have yet to forget the ideas and the meaning and the feelings that I felt when I read his books. I remember laughing until my belly ached with An Abundance of Katherines or daydreaming about connectivity after reading Paper Towns and I am sure I will keep on thinking about the last words of this book for a long, long time.

At one point, Miles thinks (with regards to Alaska):

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.

And I think this is an apt way of describing John Green’s books as well. Most books are drizzle but John Green’s are totally hurricanes.

Notable Quotes/Parts: Some wonderful quotes from the book:

What the hell is instant? Nothing is instant. Instant rice takes five minutes, instant pudding an hour. I doubt that an instant of blinding pain feels particularly instantaneous.

We were kissing. I thought: This is good. I thought: I am not bad at this kissing. Not bad at all. I thought: I am clearly the greatest kisser in the history of the universe. Suddenly she laughed and pulled away from me. She wiggled a hand out of her sleeping bag and wiped her face. “You slobbered on my nose,” she said, and laughed.

Additional Thoughts:I have the honour and the pleasure to say that tomorrow we will post an article written by John Green for our blog on the inspirations and ideas behind writing Paper Towns and, courtesy of Bloosmbury PLC, we will have 15 copies of that book to giveaway. Make sure to come back tomorrow!

Verdict: Looking for Alaska is another fantastic John Green book and that means that there is a lot of food for thought, a great narrator, and the usual, great writing that I have come to expect from this author.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Reading Next: Seth Baumgartner’s Love Manifesto by Eric Luper

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Ana Grilo is a Brazilian who moved to the UK because of the weather. No, seriously. She works with translations in RL and hopes one day The Book Smugglers will be her day job. When she’s not here at The Book Smugglers, she is hogging our Twitter feed.

20 Comments

I have always wanted one John Green’s books and it will be awesome if I get one.

This was also my last (as in ‘latest’) John Green, and the one that I loved most unreservedly. I hadn’t realized that it was his first, in which case, *agog* Also, it shattered my grumpy little heart.

i’m so unbelievably happy that you loved this book as much as i did.

You already know how I feel about the guy and his books.

But I read this one after I read (and loved) AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES and it still blew me away. I mean, wow. I loved it so much. Can’t read the end without tearing up. In a very good way.

I have to agree with you on this one. John Green has a way of building a story that seems so ordinary but the end result is infuriatingly brilliant.

Looking for Alaska is a wonderful novel. I’m happy to see a positive review.

One of my all time favorite books. ^.^ Brilliant

lisa (the little reader)

i just finished reading this, my first John Greene, novel last month and still haven’t managed to write a review for it. i don’t even know where to begin. i did enjoy it, but not in a pleasant way, and i think that’s where i’ve had a hard time with it. i’ll get there, but your review really did hit a lot of it square on the head.

I have had this book on my radar for a long time. I believe my library has it and will be in my next library loot! Thanks for reminding me to read it!!!! 😀

Tyler_Hendu

I really loved this book until alaska had to die!!! 😡 😡

this book no has review of chapters 🙁

Chastine Denise Perkins

I read Looking for alaska my sophmore year in high school and now i have a copy that is falling apart on me. I absoulutly love to read it. john green uses so much imagery and symbolism. there are things hidden between the pages that i find more wonderful each time i read it. there is a lesson to be learned from alaska and pudge, life is a mystery and can end at any second so live you life to the fullest cause it can change in a blink. 😯

Looking for Alaska: Therein Lies the Paradox | Hardcovers and Heroines

[…] Book Smuggler Review […]

http://lorxiebookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/looking-for-alaska-by-john-green.html i love JOHN GREEN

Looking for Alaska by John Green « The Lemon-Squash Book Club

[…] To read The Examiner’s review of Looking for Alaska, click here.  And read The Book Smugglers review here. […]

Looking for Alaska by John Green | wrapped up in books

[…] The Book Smugglers: ”The girls are mirrors or windows from which to observe the boy-narrator’s lives and this is perhaps my greatest criticisms: that the girls are more out of this world, impossible realities that serve more as plot-propeller than concrete characters in themselves…John Green’s prose is insanely good writing because it is the kind of writing that creeps in little by little.” […]

Looking for Alaska (2005)? by John Green « The Lemon-Squash Book Club

[…] Examiner’s review of Looking for Alaska, click here. And read The Book Smugglers ?review here. ? Extras Check out below to see John Green’s video regarding the controversy over Looking […]

I liked the book too – I remember reading the quote ‘I go to seek a great perhaps’ somewhere on the internet and never knew that I would end up buying this book. My thoughts on the book: http://www.booksandalotmore.com/2017/06/26/death-looking-alaska-john-green/

yurbookstore

Wowww…I finally read the book after reading your Review.Thank you so much.. 🙂 Here have a look at the other Book’s of John Green Here: https://goo.gl/NqLuqw

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Book Review For Teens: John Green Looking for Alaska

New York Times best selling author John Green was awarded the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award for Looking for Alaska . Our reviewer, New York Times best selling author, Jamie Ford ( Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet ) and his daughter, Madi, tell you why it’s a must read.

TEEN REVIEW |  By Madi Ford

Earlier this year, I read John Green’s, The Fault in Our Stars, and I loved it (though I was somewhat mad because I didn’t think anyone could be as wonderful and perfect as Augustus Waters in real life, though a part of me is still hoping…)

So, when my dad asked me to choose a book for this review, I sought Green’s first book, Looking for Alaska , which turned out to be a good choice for any teenager (or even adult) as it deals with universal questions of love,  friendship, truth and the unknown areas in between.

The story follows Miles (Pudge) as he attempts to reinvent himself at a new school, with new friends and new experiences (smoking, drinking, dating). But he gets more than he bargained for when he meets Alaska Young, with her witty charm and too-good-to-be-true carefree attitude.

I loved how the book continued after Alaska’s mysterious death. There was so much more to feel at that point. It left Miles and all of Alaska’s friends lost and confused, struggling without closure, questioning who she really was.

Also, the “not so” PG rating gives a believable feel to the book. Unexpected plot twists pull you in. As do the numbering of the chapters, which are a countdown that hint to some big event toward the end.

As a teen, I could relate to Looking for Alaska because the characters felt real. And while the book drew me in emotionally, the story still had a sense of humor that speaks to readers my age.

Although the book reaches from suspense to sadness, I enjoyed every moment.

PARENT REVIEW |  By Jamie Ford

After hearing such favorable (okay, gushing) reviews of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars , I picked it up, sat on the couch and read the first chapter out loud to my wife. I was hooked. She was too. Three hours and a box of Kleenex later, we sat there in awe. We both loved that book! So much so that I didn’t want to read another John Green book for a while. I just wanted to wallow in the deep emotion of that story. But then, I was asked to review Green’s first novel, Looking for Alaska , with my daughter, Madi. She picked it up, devoured it and placed it in my care.

Alaska reads as satisfying as The Fault because it delivers in the same way. It has likeable (okay, adorable) characters. It has dialogue that’s honest, funny and charmingly vulnerable, and an emotional gut-punch that leaves you haunted for days.

In Looking for Alaska , we find ourselves looking for solace and acceptance through the eyes of Miles Halter. Miles leaves his home and friendless existence in Florida to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama. A teen infatuated with the last words of famous dead people, Miles goes, as the late Francois Rabelai once said, “to seek a Great Perhaps.”

That Great Perhaps befriends him in the form of Alaska Young, a wild, impulsive, self-destructive girl who seems to love all, despite a heart broken by familial tragedy. Miles is smitten. Beyond smitten—he is quietly gobsmacked in love with Alaska, even as he dates another girl and Alaska professes her love elsewhere.

Magically, and painfully, the two share a tender, drunken, confessional moment and Alaska promises, “To be continued?” Miles agrees, while their lips are still touching, and he lets her go, for a moment that becomes a lifetime.

Looking for Alaska is a journey of self-discovery that explores true understanding, forgiveness, and eventually, the idea of love itself. If one loves another, if one feels strongly enough, can the aggregate of those emotions become a sum greater than the original? Can loving someone satisfy never truly knowing them? If those are the answers you’re looking for, you’ll find them in Looking for Alaska .

Looking for Alaska

By John Green

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Average rating: 7.52

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Looking For Alaska Book Review (Spoiler Free) | Favbookshelf

Looking For Alaska is a beautiful tale of young love and loss. In this article, we have given a spoiler-free book review of Looking For Alaska.

About Looking For Alaska

Title: Looking For Alaska

Author: John Green

Genre: Young adult fiction, Romance

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Type: Standalone

Goodreads rating: 4 / 5

Miles Halter is a nerdy Florida teen who has an unusual obsession with learning famous dead people’s last words. When he starts at Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama, he meets the beautiful and enchanting Alaska Young. Miles’ life which was previously one big non-event becomes thrilling as Alaska draws him into her reckless and unstable world. Along the way, Miles loses his heart irrevocably to Alaska and life can never be the same for either of them.

Book Review of Looking For Alaska

Wondering what to do on a four-hour train ride, I bought this book from the station bookstore. Believe me, when I say, I finished the book on the four-hour train journey. That’s how captivating I found it.

You don’t expect young adult fiction to be philosophical but that is the unique quality of John Green’s writing. With Miles’ obsession with the last words of dead famous people, John Green begins the conversation on mortality. Miles is on his way to seek a ‘Great Perhaps’ as François Rabelais’ last words, and by the end of the book, the reader would want to follow in Miles’ footsteps to seek it too.

I liked John Green’s characters. They are vividly described and therefore, their choices make sense. The protagonist, Miles, is a character that the readers might find relatable, at least I did. His uneventful life is mundane and boring, therefore, when he meets the chaotic, unstable, but gorgeous Alaska, it is natural that he is drawn to her.

“If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”  Looking For Alaska

The book is divided into two parts- Before and After. The readers know from the beginning that a major incident is coming that would change the lives of all the characters, but it’s still heartbreaking when it finally happens. Green’s writing successfully creates the intrigue that makes it difficult for the reader to put down the book.

This book, Looking For Alaska was John Green’s first novel and it is a great one for a debut. It has all the elements of a young adult novel, young love, and teenage friendships. It reminded me of my own teenage years. John Green follows a trope where everything seems fine until it’s not. The incident that Green prepares you for since the beginning would still come as a shock to you.

“Thomas Edison’s last words were, ‘It’s very beautiful over there.’ I don’t know where there is, but I know it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.” Looking For Alaska

Overall, Looking For Alaska is a short book and you can finish it in one go if you want. The Before part of the book is breezy and light but the After part gets dramatic and dark. It’s still a very captivating read, sprinkled with a heavy dose of philosophy, something that is so unique to John Green’s writing.

Rating: 4 / 5 ; Our Rating Guide

Recommendation: Absolutely try it!

If you are a fan of  The Fault In Our Stars and Nicholas Sparks books, you would definitely love Looking For Alaska. Pick it up if you are looking for a light read.

If you want to read the book, click on the link below:

About the Author

John Michael Green is an American award-winning author. He has been the Number One New York Times bestselling author and has won many accolades including the Printz Medal, a Printz Honour, and the Edgar Award. His most popular book is The Fault In Our Stars. His other books include Paper Towns, Let It Snow, An Abundance Of Katherines, Will Grayson, and Turtles All The Way Down. John Green is also a YouTube content creator.

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• Entertainment
• How Hulu’s <i>Looking for Alaska</i> Updates John Green’s Book for a New Generation

How Hulu’s Looking for Alaska Updates John Green’s Book for a New Generation

B oarding schools are strange places, little fiefdoms of byzantine social politics and spiking teen hormones. Culver Creek Academy — the setting for John Green ’s 2005 best-selling young adult novel Looking for Alaska and, now, Hulu’ s eight-episode adaptation of the story — is particularly surreal. The high-pressure academic institution in a sleepy Southern hamlet is populated by characters that read like fairy-tale archetypes: the charming but clueless young hero, Miles “Pudge” Halter; the rebellious ingenue Alaska Young; their sidekicks, smart-talking Chip “Colonel” Martin and brainy Takumi Hikohito; a group of carelessly cruel, privileged enemies; and the wise yet stern authority figures. In the new show all of this, plus much of the plot and dialogue, remains unchanged from Green’s book.

But beneath the surface, Green’s story has gotten a facelift for our present moment. In 2005, the book was a revelation for its clear-eyed depiction of teen angst and love, and a generation of readers grew up smitten with the inscrutable Alaska, infatuated Miles and feisty Chip. But everything looks different in the light of 2019’s political landscape and evolving social norms, and so the novel Looking for Alaska — originally told entirely through Miles’ eyes — can feel dated, at the very least for its fixation with what some have deemed an early version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl . ( Many , including Green himself , have wrestled with the way in which he deals with this trope in his books.)

Today’s TV landscape features shows like HBO’s Gen Z hit Euphoria , Netflix’s controversial 13 Reasons Why and candid Sex Education , and major-network sitcoms and dramas that present diverse depictions of family and teen life. The only way Looking for Alaska could work in this moment is with a broadening of voices and more explicit exploration of themes like sexuality, consent, mental health, race and privilege — and fortunately, that’s what the eight-episode series delivers. Some of these themes, particularly sexuality and privilege, are certainly present in the book, but not with the kind of intention brought to them by executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who were also behind The O.C. and Gossip Girl. (Green also serves as an executive producer on the series.) The story is the same, but the emotional beats it hits — self-discovery, betrayal, grief — are thrown into sharper relief by the more nuanced telling.

Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns , knows how to tap into teenage emotion. But where he fixates on feelings, Schwartz and Savage — also experts in teen drama — like to see the big, dramatic picture. Though they’ve softened their usually snappy tone to match the meditative pace of this story, their instincts for drawing out insider-outsider tensions remain sharp.

The series is shot with a dreamy reverence for the sepia-toned magic of boarding school in a humid early autumn, when Miles arrives as a new student to find adventure after a lackluster high school experience in his native Florida. It’s set in 2005, but it could be any year in the past few decades: Alaska wears bell-bottoms and chokers, student pranks run rampant and school dances involve the “Macarena.” The kids drink contraband wine, talk in over-wrought witticisms and smoke illicit cigarettes in the woods. (Today, that might be vaping — but the show is committed to its old-school cigarettes.) And the rich kids get away with everything. It’s all timeless teen stuff. Even the music — songs popular in 2005, from a particularly poignant cover of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” — helps situate us in a familiar past.

Into that haze of nostalgia marches Alaska, a long-legged and bookish young woman with an eye for trouble and a scholarship. She was always a feminist in Green’s writing, bold about her sexuality and quick to excoriate her classmates for casual sexism. Now — with scenes flashing back to her childhood and showing her dealing with teachers and responsibilities of her own — her motivations, and frustrations, come into sharper focus. At one point, she dreams of a future in which she is “inspiring girls to be their unapologetically badass selves” by running a feminist bookstore. At another, she frankly instructs Miles and his new girlfriend in the finer arts of some sex acts — for both of them. (In the book, the only focus is on male pleasure.) Even Miles seems to have internalized today’s rules of consent, nervously checking in with his girlfriend as they reach new bases: “Is this OK?” The show hits these notes with a light touch, but the updates are noticeable, exhibiting evolved norms of communication and turning Alaska into more than a cipher for Miles’ dreams.

In one scene, Alaska and Miles have the following exchange: “Alaska,” he asks delicately, “are you suffering?” “Aren’t we all?” she responds. “It’s kind of the human condition.” “I mean you. Specifically,” he says. Her answer: “I mean sure, I guess.” It’s just a few lines of dialogue, but it’s an addition that resonates. In the book, mental health and depression are never directly addressed; Alaska is referred to, repeatedly, as “moody.” But in 2019 teen mental health awareness — and concerns about anxiety, depression and suicide rates — have become regular topics of conversation. The simple act of Miles verbalizing his concern, and Alaska’s admission that she struggles, are tweaks that matter. No, a school therapist doesn’t materialize to address the many problems these kids are facing. But at least we get an example of how to ask, and a reminder that it’s OK to answer honestly.

The show works hard to give supporting characters backstories that matter, too. The new adaptation’s biggest and worthiest addition is the casting of Denny Love as Chip, a scholarship student with lofty ambitions. Chip is a troublemaker with, yes, a chip on his shoulder. In the book, his anger can seem misplaced. With his race explicitly stated in the show (it went unmentioned in the novel), his struggles to fit in at Culver Creek, accept the status quo and get ahead academically make even more sense. This isn’t just about socioeconomic privilege; Chip’s fight is also about finding a place for himself as a young black man in a southern boys’ club. (Example: a moment in the show when his girlfriend’s dad refuses to let him be her escort at her debutante ball.) Another new revelation: the backstory of the wise old religion professor, Dr. Hyde (This Is Us’ Ron Cephas Jones). In a tender new scene, he opens up to Alaska and Miles about the love of his life and the AIDS epidemic that claimed his life. And Lara (Sofia Vassilieva), a Romanian immigrant, has more of a voice here than on the page, given space to reflect on the changes that moving across the world has wrought on her family’s fortunes.

Green has said this book was based on his own adolescent experience; it’s a personal story. Meanwhile the show, by the nature of its medium and its carefully calibrated updates, has a more universal and relevant message. I was in boarding school in 2005, too. But the book failed to strike me as relatable; Alaska remained too much of a mystery. The show, however, hit home — and not just for its throwback music and early-2000s fashion. It’s poised to do the same for today’s teens, for reasons that go far beyond appearances.

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Looking For Alaska Hardcover – March 3, 2005

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The award-winning, genre-defining debut from John Green, the #1 international bestselling author of  Turtles All the Way Down  and  The Fault in Our Stars 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 • Millions of copies sold!   First drink. First prank. First friend. First love. Last words.    Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called “The Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.    Looking for Alaska  brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A modern classic, this stunning debut marked #1 bestselling author John Green’s arrival as a groundbreaking new voice in contemporary fiction.

• Print length 221 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 9 and up
• Lexile measure 850L
• Dimensions 5.87 x 0.97 x 8.5 inches
• Publisher Dutton Books
• Publication date March 3, 2005
• ISBN-10 0525475060
• ISBN-13 978-0525475064
• See all details

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From school library journal, about the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved..

She ran up beside me and grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back onto the porch swing.

“Yeah,” I said. And then hesitantly, I added, “You want to quiz me?”

“JFK,” she said.

“That’s obvious,” I answered.

“Oh, is it now?” she asked.

“No. Those were his last words. Someone said, ‘Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you,’ and then he said, ‘That’s obvious,’ and then he got shot.”

She laughed. “God, that’s awful. I shouldn’t laugh. But I will,” and then she laughed again. “Okay, Mr. Famous Last Words Boy. I have one for you.” She reached into her overstuffed backpack and pulled out a book. “Gabriel García Márquez. The General in His Labyrinth. Absolutely one of my favorites. It’s about Simón Bolívar.” I didn’t know who Simón Bolívar was, but she didn’t give me time to ask. “It’s a historical novel, so I don’t know if this is true, but in the book, do you know what his last words are? No, you don’t. But I am about to tell you, Señor Parting Remarks.”

And then she lit a cigarette and sucked on it so hard for so long that I thought the entire thing might burn off in one drag. She exhaled and read to me:

“‘He’—that’s Simón Bolívar—‘was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes and his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line. The rest was darkness. “Damn it,” he sighed. “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”’”

I knew great last words when I heard them, and I made a mental note to get ahold of a biography of this Simón Bolívar fellow. Beautiful last words, but I didn’t quite understand. “So what’s the labyrinth?” I asked her.

And now is as good a time as any to say that she was beautiful. In the dark beside me, she smelled of sweat and sunshine and vanilla, and on that thin-mooned night I could see little more than her silhouette except for when she smoked, when the burning cherry of the cigarette washed her face in pale red light. But even in the dark, I could see her eyes—fierce emeralds. She had the kind of eyes that predisposed you to supporting her every endeavor. And not just beautiful, but hot, too, with her breasts straining against her tight tank top, her curved legs swinging back and forth beneath the swing, flip-flops dangling from her electric-blue-painted toes. It was right then, between when I asked about the labyrinth and when she answered me, that I realized the importance of curves, of the thousand places where girls’ bodies ease from one place to another, from arc of the foot to ankle to calf, from calf to hip to waist to breast to neck to ski-slope nose to forehead to shoulder to the concave arch of the back to the butt to the etc. I’d noticed curves before, of course, but I had never quite apprehended their significance.

Her mouth close enough to me that I could feel her breath warmer than the air, she said, “That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape—the world or the end of it?” I waited for her to keep talking, but after a while it became obvious she wanted an answer.

“Uh, I don’t know,” I said finally. “Have you really read all those books in your room?”

She laughed. “Oh God no. I’ve maybe read a third of ’em. But I’m going to read them all. I call it my Life’s Library. Every summer since I was little, I’ve gone to garage sales and bought all the books that looked interesting. So I always have something to read. But there is so much to do: cigarettes to smoke, sex to have, swings to swing on. I’ll have more time for reading when I’m old and boring.”

She told me that I reminded her of the Colonel when he came to Culver Creek. They were freshmen together, she said, both scholarship kids with, as she put it, “a shared interest in booze and mischief.” The phrase booze and mischief left me worrying I’d stumbled into what my mother referred to as “the wrong crowd,” but for the wrong crowd, they both seemed awfully smart. As she lit a new cigarette off the butt of her previous one, she told me that the Colonel was smart but hadn’t done much living when he got to the Creek.

“I got rid of that problem quickly.” She smiled. “By November, I’d gotten him his first girlfriend, a perfectly nice non–Weekday Warrior named Janice. He dumped her after a month because she was too rich for his poverty-soaked blood, but whatever. We pulled our first prank that year—we filled Classroom Four with a thin layer of marbles. We’ve progressed some since then, of course.” She laughed. So Chip became the Colonel—the military-style planner of their pranks, and Alaska was ever Alaska, the larger-than-life creative force behind them.

“You’re smart like him,” she said. “Quieter, though. And cuter, but I didn’t even just say that, because I love my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, you’re not bad either,” I said, overwhelmed by her compliment. “But I didn’t just say that, because I love my girlfriend. Oh, wait. Right. I don’t have one.”

She laughed. “Yeah, don’t worry, Pudge. If there’s one thing I can get you, it’s a girlfriend. Let’s make a deal: You figure out what the labyrinth is and how to get out of it, and I’ll get you laid.”

“Deal.” We shook on it.

Later, I walked toward the dorm circle beside Alaska. The cicadas hummed their one-note song, just as they had at home in Florida. She turned to me as we made our way through the darkness and said, “When you’re walking at night, do you ever get creeped out and even though it’s silly and embarrassing you just want to run home?”

It seemed too secret and personal to admit to a virtual stranger, but I told her, “Yeah, totally.”

For a moment, she was quiet. Then she grabbed my hand, whispered, “Run run run run run,” and took off, pulling me behind her.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dutton Books (March 3, 2005)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 221 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0525475060
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0525475064
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 16+ years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 850L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 9 and up
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.87 x 0.97 x 8.5 inches
• #99 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Self Esteem & Reliance
• #165 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Death & Dying
• #349 in Teen & Young Adult Friendship Fiction

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About the author

John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), and The Fault in Our Stars. His many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers) and co-created the online educational series CrashCourse (youtube.com/crashcourse). You can join the millions who follow him on Twitter @johngreen and Instagram @johngreenwritesbooks or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com.

John lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Royal Purple

Book Review: ‘Looking for Alaska’ by John Green

“Looking for Alaska,” by popular American novelist John Green, follows Miles Halter as he journeys through his first year at Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama.

Based on the description of the book, I was under the impression that “Looking for Alaska” would revolve around a high school romance, but the book turned out to be so much more than that.

From the beginning, it is clear that Miles isn’t your average junior in high school. He

has a fascination with peoples’ final words before death and is obsessed with studying. He begs his parents to send him to Culver Creek because he knows that he does not fit in at the high school in his hometown.

It doesn’t take long for Miles to be welcomed into the spontaneous, adventure-filled lives of his roommate Chip Martin (also known as “the Colonel”) and the Colonel’s best friend Alaska Young.

His first night at the boarding school, Miles finds himself abducted by the rich kids of campus, the “Weekday Warriors,” and thrown into the nearby lake as part of a prank war that started long before Miles attended Culver Creek.

The Colonel, Alaska and Miles seek revenge on the Weekday Warriors.

While planning pranks and attending classes with Alaska, Miles falls in love with her. However, Alaska has a boyfriend and a painful secret about her past.

Alaska’s character was who kept me reading. She is impulsive, temperamental and passionate. It seemed that every one of Alaska’s friends knows a different part of her, and throughout the book different pieces of the puzzle are revealed.

Tragedy strikes near the end of the book, and Miles loses touch with his friends of Culver Creek. None of them know how to handle the situation and the ending leaves many questions.

Most of the time, I dislike books that leave me wondering. I like everything to be wrapped up, unless there is a sequel.

“Looking for Alaska” was different. Green made a statement by leaving some questions up to the interpretation of the reader, and I enjoyed coming up with my own answers.

The characters in the book were relatable to those in Green’s book “Paper Towns,” but the plot line is different enough that it kept me reading. Once I was a quarter of the way through the book, I couldn’t put it down.

The best part of “Looking for Alaska” was how real the characters seemed. Green’s consistency with characterization helped bring me into Culver Creek.

While college isn’t exactly like boarding school, the similarities help make “Looking for Alaska” a good read not only for teenage readers, but for anyone who craves a story about adventure and a bit of heartache.

4 stars out of 5.

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Book Reviews

[Book Review] ‘Looking for Alaska’ by John Green

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Green is New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska , An Abundance of Katherines , Paper Towns , The Fault in Our Stars , and Turtles All the Way Down . Along with David Levithan , he has also co-authored the critically acclaimed novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson . He was the 2006 recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a 2009 Edgar Award winner, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Green’s books have been published in more than 55 languages and over 24 million copies are in print. John is also an active Twitter user with more than 5.06 million followers.

Thomas Edison’s last words were “ It’s very beautiful over there “. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.

Looking for Alaska deals with the universal questions of love, friendship, truth, and the gray areas in between. This story is about Miles, who attempts to reinvent himself in a new school, with new friends and activities, and how his meeting with Alaska Young, a witty and carefree girl, changed his life.

The story is very realistic, especially since John has portrayed the characters exactly as one would expect them to behave without parental supervision .  It seems at first that the book is about a high school romance, but it turns out to be much more than that. It’s more of a tale of how love isn’t as translucent as it seems.

There are no chapters, in a traditional sense. Instead, the novel begins with an unconventional ‘One Hundred and Thirty-six Days Before’ and gradually counts down to the second part, ‘One Hundred and Thirty-six Days After’, leaving in the reader’s mind, an inescapable sense of dread as to what is going to be the pivotal point of division. The before is made up of routine, of monotony, of mundane happenings: kids going to classes, coming up with pranks, drinking, smoking, doing stupid things, hooking up. The after is gloomier, and shows how high school students often deal with troubles in life . That’s when the plot waves goodbye to the mundane and sets off for the momentous. And it is a serious, painful and genuine journey.

Miles likes to memorize last words . He talks about the words of Francois Rabelais before he leaves for boarding school, hoping to find a ‘Great Perhaps’ before he dies. And he finds Alaska – the gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska. She is an event in herself. She pulls him into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Alaska’s character is difficult to comprehend. She is impulsive, temperamental and passionate. It seems that every one of Alaska’s friends knows a different part of her and, throughout the book, different pieces of the jigsaw are revealed and brought together. It is through Alaska’s character that John introduces all thought-provoking topics.

At some point, you just pull off the Band-Aid, and it hurts, but then it’s over and you’re relieved.

The beauty of the book is that it doesn’t hide anything. Brutally and honestly, it showcases what young love and growing up really are. The characters’ communication, their relationships with each other, the highs and lows of their pasts and the pleasure that comes with being a bad kid shine through the pages. The suspense of the pivotal point, the mystery of the event, the fun of adolescence and the sadness in the story make this book a cocktail of emotions . This novel gives the readers an unfiltered peek into adolescence.

With a commendable score of 3.9 out of 5, Looking for Alaska is a journey of self-discovery that explores true understanding, forgiveness, and eventually, the idea of love itself, asking innocent questions like, “Can we love someone without truly knowing them?” Readers might not weep buckets, but they will get attached to Miles and Alaska, just as they do to each other.

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Looking for alaska is a book for teenager where u find yourself in it and how you find it and relate to it is something very pleasurable.

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