Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Part of a series? Nope
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: January 1st, 2005
Length: 221 pgs (hardcover)
Genre: YA contemporary
Source: Library e-book
Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, 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, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. After. Nothing is ever the same.
Opening Line:
The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party.
Now, while that isn't an especially thrilling/exciting first sentence, it certainly says a lot about the narrator, Pudge, and the kind of guy he is. And since the book revolves around Pudge and his experiences, I'd say that's a pretty spot-on statement!
SQUEE-worthy: Alaska. Alaska, Alaska, Alaska. No, not the place, the PERSON. She's no literary character; the way Green has portrayed her, she's like a living, breathing human being. And what a girl! No wonder Pudge is hopelessly in love with her! But it's not just Alaska either. From Pudge to Takumi, the whole cast of characters in
Looking for Alaska throbs with life! Their relationships, their conversations with each other, their wants and dreams and woes--Green has captured and distilled the very essence of teenagehood (teenagedom?) and even what it means to be
alive. And subsequently what it means to be dead.
"Meh" Moments: It's not so much a "meh" moment as it is a tiny twinge of disappointment. My expectations for this book were stacked high--like, SKY high--before reading it, and to be fair,
Looking for Alaska had won a lot of awards, including the Printz and the ALA Teens' Top Ten. But alas, it fell short for me. I mean, everything was great in the beginning; there was so much tension, and it was building, building, building. BUT THEN, the "After" portion of the book struck--the pivotal moment I've been waiting for as the reader--and after a few minutes of initial exhilaration as my eyes whizzed through the page... the tension died. Literally just flat-lined. Honestly, the second half was rather disappointing. I mean, it's probably my fault for going into a book with such high expectations, but I expected more: more mystery, more tragedy, more twists and turns and all that good stuff, just...
more. Instead, I just kept thinking, "Okay. That was a good book. But it wasn't that GREAT." And that, my friends, is a reaction no writer wants to evoke.
For fans of: Stephen Chbosky's
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ned Vizzini's
It's Kind of a Funny Story.
Buy or Borrow? Definitely read it. Green's insights on life and death alone are worth a read. But unless the ENTIRE story really resounds with you, I'd say it's a solid Borrow.
Let's Chat!
What do you think of Looking for Alaska? YA masterpiece or so-so story?
