Miles, a smart but socially awkward teen, is tired of his friendless, dull life in Florida, so Looking For Alaska by John Green begins after has convinced his parents to send him away to boarding school in Alabama so that he can seek “the Great Perhaps.” There he meets his roommate and soon-to-be best friend, Chip, called the Colonel, and Alaska Young, the moody, gorgeous, wild girl who instantly becomes the object of his lust and his curiosity. Miles is quickly enlisted in their group of friends and they bond over elaborate pranks, studying, and assorted rule-breaking. About halfway through the book a tragedy occurs, and those left spend the rest of the book trying to make sense of it, to solve the mystery it leaves behind, and to pull off one last, greatest-ever prank.
This novel is gorgeously written — passionate, hilarious, moving, thought-provoking, and character-driven. The characters are vividly real, complex, and beautifully drawn. Miles, the narrator, is painfully truthful, sardonic, yet sweetly naive. The Colonel is the kind of friend who understands friendship, and the ins and outs of high-school society. And Alaska is both seductively charming and almost completely illusive — the reader will be almost as in love with her as most of the characters are.
Green crafts a fantastically funny and complex portrayal of high school life. There are sexual situations in the book, as well as hints of suicide, so readers younger than 9th grade may be cautioned against the book. But for those in high school or those who even remotely remember the experience, this book is an absolute pleasure.
- Posted by Cori