Green, J. (2005). Look for Alaska. New York, NY: Speak Imprint, Penguin Group.
ISBN-13: 9780142402511
•Plot Summary
Miles Halter has decided that in his pursuit of the "Great Perhaps" (a message from a book), he is going to have his Senior year at the same boarding school is father attended, Culver Creek Boarding School. Soon after he arrives, his new roommate (Chip aka the Colonel), dubs him "Pudge" due to his being incredibly thin, and introduces Pudge to the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Charismatic Alaska Young isn't just beautiful though, she's also self-named, brilliant at calculus, owns a library of books she plans to read during her lifetime, and suffers from tremendous mood swings for which no one can really account. Amid the pranks against the enemy (the Weekday Warriors), Pudge proving to everyone he may actually know the final last works of every president, and drunken parties, it is revealed that when Alaska was eight, her mother died from a seizure. Alaska's father blamed her, because she was home at the time, and never called for an ambulance. Alaska avoids going home on the holidays, is clinging to her boyfriend (Jake) as if he is the one thing keeping her from a life of sexual promiscuity, and kisses Pudge on the last night she is alive. Pudge and Coronel make it easy for her to escape the school grounds by lighting firecrackers to attract the dean's attention, and no is sure if Alaska was so drunk that she mistakenly hit a police car already stopped at an accident scene or if it was an act of suicide. The only evidence readily available could be taken either way, and it isn't until Pudge has battled through several chapter with the concepts in his religion class, and Alaska's death, that we find out Alaska had forgotten to put memorial flowers on the grave of her mother.
•Critical Evaluation
A believable look at the personalities that might populate a boarding school, with students both sent their for the elite education, and to avoid their lives at home. Pudge is convincing as a sort of lost soul after Alaska passes away, although in some respects it is hard to understand why he's in love with her. Several of the final chapters probably could have been condensed, as the story begins to be bogged down in the "why?" questions being volleyed between Pudge and Coronel.
•Reader’s Annotation
Despite the death of a main character, this book does not become overly dramatic, although it does tend to lose something of its grip. Arguably written this way to mirror the lost and confused feelings of the students.
•Information about the author
Like Pudge, John Green was raised in Florida until moving to Alabama to attend boarding school. In 2000, after graduating from college, he worked as a chaplain at a hospital for children. It was there that he first began to think about writing Looking for Alaska. Following his time as a chaplain, he worked in Chicago for Booklist Magazine. He has also written for National Public Radio's show All Things Considered.
He currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife, Sarah. John kept a year-long video blog with his brother, called Brotherhood 2.0, has his own self-titled blog, and is an editor for mental floss. Movie rights for Looking for Alaska was purchased by Paramount Studios, and the screenplay is currently being worked on. Green's second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize.
•Genre
Realistic Fiction
•Curriculum Ties
N/A
•Booktalking Ideas
Teen suicide, teen drinking
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
Teen drinking, promiscuity, and suicide are certainly items that could be addressed as problematic. For each of these, however, it should be pointed out that having a parent being aware of their teen's behavior can counteract the hold these behaviors have. It cannot be proven if Alaska did commit suicide, but the list of signs reviewed by Coronel and Pudge are accurate, and could be followed with further research to see if an individual teen displays possible signs of suicidal thoughts.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I've known a few Alaska's in my time, we probably all have, and I wondered how things might work out between she and Pudge. Of course they don't in the end, because she had Jake, and passes away, but I liked the "what is" possibilities.
