Saturday, April 25, 2020

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 14, 2008

Format: eBook
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 256
ISBN-13: 9781101434208

Reading Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)
Lexile: 850
Interest Level: Grades 9 and up (ages 14+)

Annotation: At his new boarding school, Miles Halter quickly makes friends with his roommate, "The Colonel," and his friends Alaska—a beautiful girl that Miles automatically has his eyes set on—and Takumi. Every day is filled with pranks and fun—until something terrible happens to one of them.

Plot and Content Summary: Looking for Alaska is told from the perspective of teenager Miles Halter. It follows him as he is transitioning away from his high school, where he does not have many friends, to attend boarding school in Alabama. When he arrives, he ends up becoming good friends with his roommate (called "The Colonel") and his friends, Alaska and Takumi, and they end up being a big influence on how Miles chooses to live and view life. They do all sorts of crazy pranks and get into trouble together, but things take a turn when something awful and unexpected happens.

Evaluation: This book tackles grief so well, confronting all the difficult aspects that no one wants to talk about or see. In the years of youth, life feels so limitless—chances are meant to be taken, risks are nothing, and there is no way anything bad can happen. But Looking for Alaska reveals the reality of it all: life is short and the next day is not promised to us. Although I found the story to be uninteresting overall, I respect the way Green tackles these tough issues—grief, death, depression, etc. He poses many existential thoughts, causing us to think about our own lives and really examine who we are. There are so many grand themes in Looking for Alaska, but the characters did not match up.

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: "Looking for Alaska could be the exact place to begin the healing that is needed ... It could spark conversations that would help students grieve and work their way through tragedy" (Veatch, n. d.). This is a sad book in which many situations happen that teens could experience or already be experiencing. With whatever troubles they are facing, this can offer them a sense of comfort—that what is going on in their lives is not only something that happens to one person. Others may feel similarly, and this can be a relief.

Issues Present: There may be concerns about the inappropriate and sexual content, profanity, underage drinking, and smoking. This is, however explicitly stated in the book, a reflection of what the real world looks like. It is not if teens will be exposed to these things, it is WHEN. Looking for Alaska gives teens a way to view the consequences and such from an outside perspective, and could possibly be used as an opportunity to start conversations with parents and adult figures. Teens are mature enough to handle and talk about these subjects.

Book Talk Ideas: Looking for Alaska is a thought-provoking story, with heavy emphasis on friendship, grief, and loss. The metaphor of life as a labyrinth and wanting to escape can be an excellent discussion piece—albeit a tough one. Pretending you are in the mind of each character, how do you view life? Are there any past experiences that impact this?

Genre/Subgenres: Realistic fiction

Readalikes: Lucky Fools by Coert Voorhees; Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard; Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher; Winger by Andrew Smith

References
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