Genre: Realistic Fiction - families, peers, romance, coming of age, challenges, communities
Awards: 2006 Michael L. Printz Award
Summary: Miles Halter (later nicknamed "Pudge") doesn't like his "safe" life at home in Florida. He doesn't have any close friends and spends his time reading biographies and collecting the "last words" of people. Miles' parents allow him to leave home to attend Culver Creek, a high school boarding school in Alabama where Miles' father attended school. This is the setting for the story.
Miles makes close friends for the first time while at boarding school and this is just the beginning of a long list of firsts: first drink, first prank, and first girlfriend, to name a few. Chip "Colonel" Martin, Takumi, and a girl named Alaska round out the group of main characters.
Alaska Young becomes somewhat of an obsession for Miles with her funny yet moody personality. She is "curvy" and flirtatious, but committed to a boyfriend who goes to school in Nashville, TN. One night while the group of friends is spending the weekend "away" from school in a barn, Alaska reveals that her mother died of a brain aneurysm when Alaska was a young girl and that Alaska has continued to blame herself for freezing up and not knowing what to do to save her mother.
Later, Alaska makes out with Miles while she is drunk and Miles feels like his life is really coming together. After receiving a mysterious phone call in the middle of that night, Alaska sobs to Miles "Pudge" and "the Colonel" to help her leave. They help her, even though she is drunk and they don't know where she is going.
The next day the student body learns of Alaska's death as she crashed into a police cruiser on the highway. "Pudge" (especially) and his friends are crushed, blaming themselves and then, later, trying to figure out if Alaska's death is an accident or suicide.
Reaction: I am using this book as my "edgy" title for the class. The book has been frought with controversy as the content deals directly with sexually explicit situations, drinking, smoking, and explicit language. I have struggled with what to write for my reaction.
Awards: 2006 Michael L. Printz Award
Summary: Miles Halter (later nicknamed "Pudge") doesn't like his "safe" life at home in Florida. He doesn't have any close friends and spends his time reading biographies and collecting the "last words" of people. Miles' parents allow him to leave home to attend Culver Creek, a high school boarding school in Alabama where Miles' father attended school. This is the setting for the story.
Miles makes close friends for the first time while at boarding school and this is just the beginning of a long list of firsts: first drink, first prank, and first girlfriend, to name a few. Chip "Colonel" Martin, Takumi, and a girl named Alaska round out the group of main characters.
Alaska Young becomes somewhat of an obsession for Miles with her funny yet moody personality. She is "curvy" and flirtatious, but committed to a boyfriend who goes to school in Nashville, TN. One night while the group of friends is spending the weekend "away" from school in a barn, Alaska reveals that her mother died of a brain aneurysm when Alaska was a young girl and that Alaska has continued to blame herself for freezing up and not knowing what to do to save her mother.
Later, Alaska makes out with Miles while she is drunk and Miles feels like his life is really coming together. After receiving a mysterious phone call in the middle of that night, Alaska sobs to Miles "Pudge" and "the Colonel" to help her leave. They help her, even though she is drunk and they don't know where she is going.
The next day the student body learns of Alaska's death as she crashed into a police cruiser on the highway. "Pudge" (especially) and his friends are crushed, blaming themselves and then, later, trying to figure out if Alaska's death is an accident or suicide.
Reaction: I am using this book as my "edgy" title for the class. The book has been frought with controversy as the content deals directly with sexually explicit situations, drinking, smoking, and explicit language. I have struggled with what to write for my reaction.
This book is an incredible read. The story is multi-layered with richness of characters, setting, plot, and theme. All of these elements present not only a well-crafted technical piece of writing, but it is one that high school students will be drawn to and will see themselves in realisticly. This book was a fast read that kept my attention completely.
I can not, though, react to Looking for Alaska without saying two things. First, I think that this story could easily be just as good and just as enticing to students without some of the "edge" that it has in language and explicit sexual content. Second, in saying that, I have to say that this book is probably one of the most realistic views of late high school (and college) students that I have read. That makes me sad. Here is a portrait of young people that shows them dealing with parts of life that they should not have to be dealing with, and they are dealing with these things without strong, positive adult role models leading them. They "find the way", often making poor choices along the way.
Recommended to: Looking for Alaska is a book for no one younger than their junior year in high school. College students would probably enjoy this book, as well.
Book Talk Hook: Simply reading the inside book jacket to students would draw them to this book. Sharing some of the controversy over the book with the students would also be a hook to getting students interested in reading this title.
6 comments:
I loved this book. I think it is a book teenagers can identify with. We see the problems of teen life through the characters. Miles learns many life lessons while at Culver Creek boarding school.
You should also read his book An Abundance of Katherines. I liked this book even more than Looking for Alaska.
After meeting John Green, it is easy to see how he can write books that teenagers can identify with so easily. His youth and enthusiasm and knowledge of young adult literature make his books award winners.
I also loved this book. I agree it is for the more mature teen. I am glad to read that you "struggled" a bit about what to write. That's why I am assigning at least one "edgy" book. We all need to get out of our comfort zone a bit once in awhile!
Thanks Brenda for mentioning that the author is young and enthusiastic about the power of literature to impact the lives of young people. Definitely go and hear him if you ever get a chance. I think he had some sort of crazy website with his brother??
I haven't read this book, but I am looking forward to reading it! I have heard so many wonderful things about John Green. My mother in-law listened to him speak at OELMA last year and said he was Superb! I have also heard great things about An Abundance of Katherines.
I have not read this book before but it does sound engaging. A good hook for older high school students would be to tell them about the sexuality and other controversial themes in the book.
This seems like a really good book! It appears to be targeted for individuals coping with the death of someone as questions will always linger and feelings of guilt are brought about after the death of someone close.
I remember talking about this book during one of our first classes. Even though we discussed how the book ends, I definitely think this sounds like a powerful story.
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