Looking for Alaska is a moving, authentic, and thought-provoking novel about a high school male student named Miles ("Pudge") Halter who goes to Culver Creek Boarding School in search of the "Great Perhaps." At Culver Creek, Miles finds a group of friends- the Colonel, Takumi, Lara, and Alaska- and they bring out a new confidence in him, as well as bring adventure to his life- alcohol, cigarettes, sleepovers, sex, and pranks. From the start, Pudge is smitten with Alaska Young- she's wreckless, wild, funny, sexy, independent, and unfortunately, taken. However, that doesn't stop the endless flirting or the deep friendship that grows between them. Aside from Alaska's beauty, wit, and charm, she's also has a lot of demons that haunt her. She's often angry and dark, and she suffers from the terrible guilt and memories of her mother's death when she was a child.
Without "spoiling" the novel, I will just say that after, nothing is the same and no one can move on without some answers.
This book will make you ponder life, death, and everything in between. It begs the question, how do we escape the suffering of life, but through death? John Green also explores the inevitability of death, yet he reminds us that it is nearly impossible to prepare for.
Looking for Alaska involves heavy subject matter and the reoccurring motif of death, so I wouldn't recommend this for kids younger than high school. If you read this book and enjoy it, I would recommend more books by John Green, like The Fault in Our Stars, or perhaps check out The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
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