| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » Looking for Alaska | | | | | | | Description: | | Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award An ALA Best Book for Young Adults An ALA Quick Pick A Los Angeles Times 2005 Book Prize Finalist A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age A 2005 Booklist Editor’s Choice A 2005 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . After. Nothing is ever the same.
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Average Customer Review:
 ( 299 customer reviews )
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158 of 168 found the following review helpful:
 Don't do what I did...Mar 30, 2005
By Richard Hurley
...and read this book in one sitting. Okay, it's short and incredibly good, which makes it easy to bolt down. But then you are going to feel like an idiot for not savoring the pleasure, and you're going to be bleary as hell the next day (if you finish it at 4 in the morning, like I did).
This book deals with the Big Ones: suffering, loss, and grief, but it does so with such compassion and humor that the net impact is uplifting. Even the principal turns out to be a human being. There are no cardboard cut-out characters here.
Be aware that the kids in this story do what kids actually do (smoke, drink, and have sex). If that bothers you, read it anyway. There are more important things in life than observing proprieties and pretending that bright kids aren't exploratory. You don't have to approve of these characters. It is enough to love them and learn from them.
80 of 89 found the following review helpful:
A Senior PerspectiveMar 25, 2005
By S. A. Titone
"Sam"
Somewhere between searching for the secret to winning at Texas Holdem in Doyle Brunson's SUPER SYSTEM II, A COURSE IN POWER POKER, and envying a 101 year old lady boat captain in Jimmy Buffett's A SALTY PIECE OF LAND, I found John Green's Young Adult Novel, LOOKING FOR ALASKA.
I kept looking at the alluring cover of ALASKA on my night stand and decided that POWER POKER could wait and rushed through A SALTY PIECE.
If you have a child going to boarding school soon, goes there now or has gone there, as my son did, you must read LOOKING FOR ALASKA. If you want to understand the loneliness, happiness, mischief, joy, sorrow, sadness and a few other emotions of a teenager, you must read LOOKING FOR ALASKA. If you are convinced your teenager will not mature until much later, you better not read ALASKA. If you are concerned about the experiences that your teenager might have, do not read ALASKA. If you are a teenager, read this book!
Need help with a pair of Aces? Simple - see Doyle. Got Margaritaville on your mind? No problem - Jimmy is your man. But if you want to come of age with an extraordinarily endearing group of kids, read this book.
My son tells me it is being touted as Young Adult Fiction. I don't know about that. I can only tell you that at 64, I am a younger man for having read it.
55 of 60 found the following review helpful:
A brilliant YA debut with an authentic voice about life lessons in a boarding schoolMar 03, 2006
By Jessica Lux
Green's debut YA novel follows a year in the life of high school junior Miles Halter, a friendless Floridian who begged his parents to enroll him in the Culver Creek boarding school. Miles dreams of starting anew at his elite Alabama prep school, of finding Francois Rabelais's "The Great Perhaps." At school, he falls in with a prankster of a roommate, the Colonel, and the sassy, sexy, messed-up Alaska Young. For an unforgettable 128 days, Miles learns life lessons in love, loyalty, friendship, literature, and poetry, as well as experiences the thrill of a first girlfriend. When tragedy strikes Culver Creek, Miles is forced to undertake an even closer examination of his own character and relationship with his friends.
This is an outstanding coming-of-age novel that has already proved to be a favorite teen read. It doesn't resort to a cop out of a "happily ever after" ending, but the characters each seek closure on their own terms. The characters are well-drawn, witty, and full of individual quirks and spunk. Green even manages to bring in the reality of cigarettes and alcohol without a preachy or over-glorifying tone. This novel has won the Teen's Top 10 award as well as the Printz Award, and Green is well on his way to YA superstardom. I'm looking forward to his next novel.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 HonestAug 14, 2005
By Plath
As a student at the school Culver Creek is based on, I enjoyed the book on two levels. I enjoyed it first as literature. Though the dialogue is occasionally too clever, and the end includes a little more explanation of Alaska's last night than I'd have liked, Looking for Alaska is a wonderful book about taking risks, exploring, experiencing life, and coming of age. I enjoyed it second as a book about my high school, Indian Springs School. I've been to the stables and that infamous TV room, gotten records from the school judiciary, I know the man the Eagle is based on, etc. I just want to say that in addition to being a great read in and of itself, Looking for Alaska captures Indian Springs School perfectly. John Green has a great ability to make his scenes and characters breathe, a great mind, and a great heart. I definitely recommend Looking for Alaska.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
I love this book!!!!Mar 27, 2006
By Whatever
This book is esitially about a lot of messed up kids bumbling their way through a private school. The story centers on a Boy named Miles who memorizes last words, Miles decides that he needs a change from his boring and pointless high school creaer so far so he dicides to venture into the "Great Perhaps" and look for grander meaning at a bording school. There he meets Alaska Young a sexy and screwed up girl who opens up Miles eyes to the world and strips him of his innocence. She finds him his first girlfriend, gives him his first real drink, gets him hooked on cigretts, and is his first love.
What makes this book so good is that it's actually about smart kids going through high school who's only thoughts aren't what there wearing to prom, but instead about the world and who they are and what they're living. The author dosen't try and turn teenagers into air-heads or children, but instead examines what's actually like to be 17. The confison with the world and what it wants of you, the diser to rebel, and the feelings of responsiblity that you are just truly growing into.
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