Looking for Alaska by John Green

Age Level: Teen
Format: Book

"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" - Simón Bolívar (last words)

Sixteen-year-old Miles "Pudge" Halter, who is obsessed with people's last words, has left his parent's house in Florida to attend the same boarding school in Alabama that his father attended when he was a teenager. There, Miles rooms with Chip, otherwise known as the Colonel and meets Alaska, the brainy and beautiful head of the group of prankster misfits that welcomes Miles into their group. They're an unlikely but close group - smoking, drinking, going to class and pranking the 'Weekday Warriors' together. As the school year progresses, Miles' crush on Alaska intensifies and it becomes evident that Alaska's troubled past can cause her to be self destructive and that something bad is going to happen...

The first half of the book is Before . . . before the event that will change Miles, the Colonel, and the school they attend. In the before time, the reader gets a glimpse into the dynamics of the school. Not much happens to move the plot along, other than the group getting into mischief, getting busted for smoking or drinking, sneaking out after curfew . . . harmless pranks with harmless consequences. Then comes After. The event that happened, that changed the school and Miles, are carefully chronicled through his eyes. The reader experiences the struggle to understand the age old question of Why? along with Miles and his friends. Was it an accident? Was it on purpose? Could it have been stopped? It was all their fault. Will life ever be the same?

Sadness, anger, trust, renewal . . . all the signs of grief and healing are carefully chronicled within this powerful novel. It is full of quiet incidents that seem small when looked at separately, but when looked at as a whole are large and significant. I highly recommend and enjoyed this novel.

"It's very beautiful over there." - Thomas Edison (last words)

Reviewed by Sara.