Looking For Alaska

John Green

Dutton Books, New York, 2005

Genres: Death, Sex Related, Friends and Society, Humor

Reading Level: Young Adult (Only By Special Recommendation)

Pages: 221

Awards: Printz Award

Summary:

Miles is 16 and he has decided that he wants to attend school in another state, at a boarding school, away from home. He doesn't have friends and he's really unsure about what's in store for him. Then he meets Skip and Alaska and his life changes completely. This is a story about escaping a Labyrinth of life and trying to understand why.

Reaction:

I really liked this book, but it's not for the faint of heart. I thought that they story was well organized and the characters had a lot of depth, but parts of it did bother me. I wouldn't recommend this book to most teens because they're not really mature enough for it, and it does have some questionable material. I really liked the interactions between the main characters and parts of it even reminded me of some of my high school friendships, though not as extreme. Looking For Alaska deserves the award it got, but it isn't really appropriate for most teens.

Cautionary Note: Lots of Language, Sex, Alcoholism, Smoking, and Rule Breaking