Looking for Alaska Book Review

"Looking for Alaska" was one of John Green's first novels for young adults, published in March 2005 with the help of Dutton Juvenile, an American book publishing company. Just a year later in 2006, Green's "Looking for Alaska" won the Michael L. Printz award. John Green, now 35, who must have been a proud author, has also written a handful of other novels, such as "Paper Towns" and "Will Grayson, Will Grayson." As for "Looking for Alaska," the book is known for having much controversey because of "sexually explicit situations", as well as alchohol / drug use, and strong, provocative language. Even so, it is said that the novel wasn't very popular until the controversery quickly surrounded it. Depsite all of this, John Green has stood with his held high behind is winner of a book, being supportive and proud all six years that "Looking for Alaska" has been on the book shelves of many librarys, online websites, and even at the households of it's readers. It's obvious that at a quick 419 pages, "Looking for Alaska" constantly keeps the attention of it's fans with the compassion filled plot.
In "Looking for Alaska," there are many different characters that play specific rolls, adding to the adventerous and spontanious feel of the entire book. It takes place around a boarding school for that main character Miles starts to attend, following in the footsteps of his father and to find his "Great Perhaps." Miles is an awkard, skinny teenager who holds a deep interest in memorizing famous last words. At Culver Creek, he meets his roomate Chip, also known as The Colonel. The Colonel is described as a short, beefy kind of guy, who's usually big on partying and getting girls. Soon into the story, he nicknames Miles as "Pudge," while introducing him to Takumi and of course, Alaska. Takumi plays the roll as a quiet, smart individual, who feels left out of the loop the majority of the time. As for Alaska, you quickly learn that she's a carefree type of girl, who can always be found with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She focuses on nothing but the thought of leaving the world as soon as she can; she focuses on nothing but death. The four form a group of friends who skip class to drink and smoke, slowly turning Miles into someone he would have never imagined he'd be.
As I've stated before, the plot is completely filled with a sense of compassion, as well as thrilling, therefore never allowing you to be able to put it down. As the main character, Miles sets off to find his "Great Perhaps," something that he'll carry with him for the rest of his life, something memorable and fascinating. He soon learns that maybe, just maybe, Alaska will bring him to any sort of "Great Perhaps" that would bring him out of his awkward, shy shell of a teenage boy. Throughout the novel, Miles constantly finds himself in different situations, doing what he once thought was the imaginable. Things such as setting up school pranks and gradually finding himself falling in love with Alaska, who already has a boyfriend waiting for her back at home. With the company of the three others, she brings him on unthinkable adventures, showing him what it's like to live a little, giving him opertunities to find his "Great Perhaps." Adventures that were anywhere from thrilling and exciting to risky and terrifying, where they either slid through danger safely or were caught in a web of destruction.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and the events in this book are no different when one night, things take a turn a turn for the worse. "Looking for Alaska" has no happily ever after ending, as the group splits up towards the end of the year at Culver Creek. Yet one thing is for sure, as things will never be the same for the infamous group of four, Miles, Alaska, Chip and Takumi. As the book wraps up, you definitely learn the point that was trying to be made all throughout the storyline. Overall, I'd have to say that what was being taught was that everyone looks at life differently, some optimistically, while others see nothing but negatively all around them. It's taught me that as much as you would feel the need to save someone from having their life go downwards, sometimes only they can help themselves. Rather they choose to or not, is entirely up to them. Yet it's also taught me that no matter how life hard gets, that it's beautiful, despite who it belongs to. "Looking for Alaska" was also big on showing that at any age, you're never too young to start discovering yourself and experiencing feelings that some think only taughts can withold.
I can easily say that "Looking for Alaska" is hands down one of my favorite books, and I would definitely reccomend it to anyone. I don't feel like it's the type of book that only a majority of a certain gender can read, it can really be for anyone, of any gender, of any age. It's not a short read as far as a number of pages go, but it'll go by quickly as you immediatly get sucked into the plot and start to know the characters as you would anyone else in real life. I love the kind of a books that I can put down down and realize that I've learned new things, new lessons that I can take with me for the rest of my life, which is what "Looking for Alaska" has definitely given to me. Despite the controversy that first surrounded the book, it doesn't downgrade it all, making it seem not worth the time. It definitely is worth anyones time.