Looking for Alaska by John Green

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Looking for Alaska

March 3, 2005 / 254 pages / Fiction

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award An ALA Best Book for Young Adults An ALA Quick Pick A Los Angeles Times 2005 Book Prize Finalist A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age A 2005 Booklist Editor’s Choice A 2005 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . After. Nothing is ever the same.

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John Green's Looking for Alaska is a wonderful start for the author. While it may not resonate with adults as strongly as with its intended audience, it certainly does a marvelous job of telling Miles Halter's coming of age story and his love for the impossible girl that is Alaska Young. She, however, is the weakest point in the book. Green relies heavily on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope and this book suffers slightly because of that. Overall, though, a fantastic YA novel. Rating: A-

Grade: A– / lyonharted / Sep 4, 2013

Green does an excellent job in exploring teenage friendships and I really enjoying his writing style. That being said, the climax was a bit predictable and maybe intended to be a shocker, but I will not say anymore about it because I don't want to give anything away. Some readers have complained that there is too much bad language, smoking, alcohol use, and sexual encounters in the book, but isn't that part of the appeal for young readers?

Grade: B / lalareads / Jul 6, 2014

Did not leave me as emotionally distraught as The Fault in Our Stars, but still wonderful writing by John Green.

Grade: B+ / notesinthemargin / Aug 26, 2013

This book was wonderful. I don't usually read YA books, but this and The Perks of Being a Wallflower were both great. The description of teh book is pretty on point. Just know that John Green pulls it off extremely well.

Grade: B / Shodi / Oct 17, 2015

A nice book but very much for teenagers. I was expecting a lot, having heard good things about John Green, but for the most part I found only high-school cliches and pretension. While not as profound or different as I'd expected, it is a very addicting book and some passages were great. Green is a great character author and you really get a brilliant sense of Miles' character through his narration.

Grade: C+ / HazDub / Sep 3, 2013

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