Looking for Alaska by John Green

Genre: Young adult, contemp fiction
Publisher, Year: Dutton Books, 2005
Other Works: An Abundance of Kathrines
Flags: Strong language, Adult themes, Explicit references
Rating: A+, or Must Read Now!
Challenge: Countdown
Premise: A boy starts new at a boarding school. He makes new friends, all of whom love to work and play hard. A tragic event changes everything.

I've been meaning to post this review for awhile. I think I read this book almost two years ago and loved it immediately, along with it's quirky author, John Green. This book definitely made a lasting impression on me.

Miles Halter, nicknamed "Pudge," arrives at a new boarding school, full of expectation. He's looking for something, something big, and finds it in the embodiment of a girl, Alaska, and a group of friends who, like him, are just trying to get things figured out, and have a little fun besides. The whole story pivots around one event: one painful and troubled realization, one hasty decision that leaves lasting scars. Before this event, there is adventure, discovery, and the same mistakes teens have been making and learning from for centuries. After—nothing is the same, regrets abound, and, felt most deeply, nothing can be done to change it.

Miles meets with a group of intelligent, misfit teens who like to do those things that all kids that age do—drink life to the lees and damn the consequences. Up to this point, Miles has had little opportunity to be reckless, and with his new life, he’s also ready for new experiences, led by a high-spirited, slightly damaged, beautiful girl. Alaska represents to him every excitement that the world has to offer, and he can’t help himself around her. He’s entranced, with the innocence that envelops every first love.

Amidst all of these physical and emotional discoveries, Miles is also looking for something more, something intangible, what he call the Great Perhaps. Although it may seem like a lot of fun and games—kids being kids, goofing off, and all that—Miles and his ramshackle group are each finding their own paths, grasping for answers to life’s biggest mysteries, the unfairness of it all and what it all means. I can understand why some don’t like this book. I suppose on the surface it could seem like the chronicles of a bunch of over-enthusiastic, irreverent, and under-supervised kids wreaking havoc, but it really is so much more than that. It’s a heart-breaking tale of a heart-breaking time in life. For me, it put into words so much that makes sense about being a teenager, about big choices and even bigger questions, about accepting adulthood. About the frustration of realizing that some questions just don’t have good, solid, scientific method answers. About making sense of the senseless.

This is one I’m definitely putting on my list of what to read with my daughter when she reaches teenagehood. Not only was it brimming with meaning, but was also a joy (and a sorrow) to read. Green is an excellent writer, and the story was well-paced, creative, and compelling. I’m looking forward to reading his other books.

Yes, I Digress: Banned Books Week

I recently finished Looking for Alaska by John Green, and I really enjoyed it. (You'll see . . . in forthcoming review.) I went looking at his website afterwards to get an idea of what John Green is all about. Interesting fellow. I ran across, in his archives, a post he wrote two years ago about a school in New York that was planning on teaching his book, but had an outcry from the community. The school was going to send home permission slips, detailing controversial content, to parents and have them decide whether they would have their kids read the book. If the parents didn't want their kids reading the book, an alternative book would be given. But this wasn't what the "public" wanted; they insisted that it be banned. He does a pretty stellar job explaining it.



An interesting idea, banning. Honestly, I don't understand how these people even hear about these sorts of things. How they even know what's going on with a particular book. I mean, I consider myself a bookish person, and I'd never even heard of this one until about 6 months ago. In most cases, I would suspect they don't know firsthand, but instead heard from a friend who heard from a friend (etc, etc) that such and such a book was filth. Secondly, don't they know that banning a book is pretty much a sure fire way to make its popularity SOAR!? These are teenagers we're talking about here! What happens when you say: "You can't do that, I forbid it!"

Which brings me to another story. In high school, my class was reading Catcher in the Rye like every other 17 year old in the nation. I tried to hide it from my mom, being one of those kids who didn't like to stick out too much, but she was ready for this. I was the third child. She had A Separate Peace all dusted off and ready for me. I didn't relish in being the only kid "not allowed" to read Catcher in the Rye, but I went along with it. Unfortunately, the alternate had changed in the five years it took for me to get to 11th grade, and it was now Grapes of Wrath. My teacher handed me the tome much to my great displeasure.

Granted, I should have taken it as an opportunity to read a great Steinbeck novel, but instead I borrowed my best friend's copy of Catcher and read it on the sly. I was even brazen enough to take it out and read it in the middle of English class one day (since I was not participating in any class time involving the "banned" book), and I was found out. The coveted novel was taken away, and I got me and my friend in trouble. So, I've never actually read any of the three books, but this year, I'm going to do it--I'm going to read Catcher in the Rye. Every last banned word. (Sorry, mom!) It's going to feel so wicked!

Anyway, point being, banning a book produces the direct opposite effect of what people are going for! If they'd never banned it in the first place, people might not be itching to get their hands on a copy. That book might just become another unacknowledged gem that few find. But then, I guess we should be thanking those banners--for pointing out what we've been missing. Aladdin in the desert: a diamond in the rough.

So, this year I'm gearing up! I'm going to recognize that week in the fall. Mark your calendars for September 25 to October 2, and do something crazy and rebellious. Like reading a book. Read more about it here.