Green, John. Looking
for Alaska. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2005. ISBN: 978-0-14-240251-1.
PLOT SUMMARY
Miles Halters, a bright young teen entering his junior year
of high school, leads a routinely dull life. He has no friends to speak of and
passes his time by learning the last words of famous people who have died. He
realizes it's time for a change, time "to seek a Great Perhaps" that
the poet Francois Rabelais spoke of when he died. Miles convinces his parents
that he would like to attend his father's old high school, Culver Creek
Boarding School, in order to have an opportunity to break out of the friendless
existence that he has in his current high school and find his own Great
Perhaps. At Culver Creek Boarding School, Miles not only discovers the security
of friendship, he also learns about the confusion and guilt of unexpected loss
when it seemed that everything was finally going right in his life.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
John
Green without reservations opens the world of teens and their feelings in Looking for Alaska. The culture of
adolescence is filled with teens who experience the realization of the larger
world around them and the confusion of where they will fit into it all. What
was once just accepted when they were children suddenly becomes questioned.
What was once stable becomes unstable. Mistakes from the past can become
the driving force of actions in the present.
Green's
central character, Miles Halter, is a teenager who is determined to break a
mold he has created for himself as a loner, separate from the social scene of
his school. Inspired by the dying words of Francois Rabelais who was going
"to seek a Great Perhaps," he knows that to have a chance to change
his life he must leave his old school behind and try to reestablish himself in
a new school in order to make friends and open the door to new possibilities. His
hope becomes a reality as he is quickly accepted among a tight group of friends
at Culver Creek Boarding School: his roommate, the Colonel, whose careful
planning of school pranks lead the group into memorable experiences; Takumi,
the loyal friend who helps the group successfully pull off school pranks; Lara,
the Romanian girl who likes Miles and hopes to be his girlfriend; and the
beautiful and lively Alaska Young who awakens Miles' desires for a relationship
with her, but who is faithful to her boyfriend who attends a different school.
Through this group of friends, Miles, nicknamed Pudge by the Colonel, begins to
experience the social life of a high school teen in its fullness: belonging to
a group of friends and partaking in drinking, smoking, mischief, and even an
uneventful attempt in sexual intimacy.
While
the setting and plot seem typical of a contemporary fiction novel, that is to
say, a high school with two distinct groups, the popular athletes and the nerdy
intellectuals, who enjoy provoking one another, Green takes the reader deeper
into interior emotions and conflicts that teenagers face: the inner self that
they hesitate to completely share with even their closest friends. It is
through Alaska he accomplishes this most intense and real aspect of life. Alaska
is the driving force of the friends. She is lively, adventurous, intelligent,
and daring. She teases, taunts, and then suddenly can be sensitive and
thoughtful. She is
both endearing and frustrating. She is the nucleus of the group and the force
that holds them together. However, she has a shadow that hangs over her, a secret from her past that drives her to test the limits of all who come into her life.
Pudge
feels he has begun to find that "Great Perhaps" he set out to seek
when Alaska suddenly seems interested in being more than just a friend. His hope are up, and just when everything finally
seems right, tragedy strikes and all that seemed solid and real crumbles around
Pudge and his friends. In that devastation, the feelings of doubt and guilt
accompanied with hidden secrets begin to surface causing one another to take
another look at each other and themselves in order to come to terms with what
is real. As the friends struggle to heal their pain, Pudge begins to realize how
important the moment we have right here and right now is the most important to
be in. It is The Great Perhaps.
AWARDS AND REVIEWS
Awards
Book for All
Seasons. 2006 - Nominee Young Adult Category
Book of the
Season - Summer 2005 - Winner Young Adult
Borders
Original Voice Award - 2005 Finalist
Michael L.
Printz Award - 2006 - Winner
Green
Mountain Book Award - 2008 Winner (Vermont)
Best Books:
Book Sense
Children's Picks. Summer 2005 - American Booksellers Association
Booklist
Editor's Choice: Books for Youth. 2005 - American Library Association
Children's
Editor's Choice. 2005 - Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Best
Children's Books. 2005 - Kirkus Reviews
School
Library Journal Best Books. 2005
YALSA Best
Books for Young Adults. 2006. American Library Association
...and many
more listings
Reviews:
"What sings and soars in this
gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges
of Pudge's voice." Kirkus Reviews
"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." Caherine M. Andronik, Library
Media Connection
"These intelligent characters talk
smart, yet don't always behave that way, and are thus complex and realistically
portrayed teenagers." Horn Book
CONNECTIONS
Young Adult Contemporary Fiction - Ages
14+
Related
Books
Other
books by John Green:
The Fault in Our Stars
Paper Towns
Similar
themed books by different authors:
Where Things Come Back, by John Corey
Whaley
Cut, Patricia McCormick
Enrichment
Activities
Listen to John Green talk about Looking for Alaska and get some great
lesson plan activities:
Printable Reader's Guide
An interesting site that lists Banned and
Challenged Books (to include Looking for
Alaska). When viewing the titles, it certainly leads
one to ponder about the reasoning behind those who choose what others should or
should not read:
PERSONAL RESPONSE
Looking for Alaska at first may seem shocking to an older audience,
but when considering the culture our teens are exposed to in the media through
music, advertising, movies, and television, Looking
for Alaska is perhaps the most truthful novel to read when trying to
understand the pressures placed on teens in today's world. Their
questions about who they are and how they fit into this world are just as real as those experienced by teens of any era. John Green tells it like it is. His writing is honest and
upfront, and because of that it is more meaningful and convincing. I watched a
few of his video clips and immediately liked him and his purpose in writing the
book. He knows today's teens, and this incredible story gives them a chance to
honestly discuss the issues they face in today's teen world.
Looking for Alaska. cover
illustration. Internet on-line. December
1, 2012 from http://www.flr.follett.com/cover?FLR=32237V5&SID=1c3a4545281945c1edad6d7b7a3ceedf&type=cover
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