looking for alaska

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

Annotation: High school student Miles goes away to boarding school, looking for the “great perhaps” and finds so much more when he meets an eclectic group of friends, including Alaska, a girl who would change his high school experience forever.

Justification for Nomination: “Everything that comes together falls apart”. This important quote from John Green's highly engaging novel sets the stage for a well told, very poignant and powerful novel about love, loss and death and all it's mysteries. Told from the main character Mile's point of view, the dialog is completely realistic. Mile's voice is heard loud and clear and any teen would be able to relate to him. His love of last words is an interesting point which enhances the topic of endings and the finality of death. Though there is much smoking, mention of oral sex and a reference to drug abuse in this story, it is all important to the overall picture being presented. Many rites of passage that a teen experiences are explored in the novel, from the first kiss to the fear of school bullies. I believe that all young male and female readers would benefit from having heard Miles' story.

All of the characters in the story are well developed and believable; from staff to student. The plot is well-paced and the story portions are divided noting the days before and after the incident that changed young Miles' life. This book does an excellent job of exploring not only the teen coming of age question of “who am I”, but also the age old question that all teens eventually are stymied by, “what happens to us when we die”? Green's story addresses those topics beautifully. Miles and his interactions with his friends and family add to the realism of the story and provide lots of insight into his thoughts. You actually develop feelings for the characters as well. When Alaska, the title character whom Miles is smitten with, says “Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die”, you definitely raise your eyebrows and realize that the message being presented here is not frivolous.

I would certainly recommend this book to all teens because it is highly insightful, powerful and realistic and tells a story that we should all be familiar with.

Genres:
Coming of Age, Censored Challenged, or Banned Books, Printz Award Winner, Edgy Fiction