Looking for Alaska by John Green

• ISBN: 978-0525475064
• Plot summary: Miles Halter decides to pursue his education at a boarding school--his father's alma mater. Up until now, Miles has led a fairly solitary life, doing well and memorizing famous last words. He sits alone in his dorm room, quietly contemplating what his life might become when in storms Chip, his new roommate. Along with Chip, Miles inherits friends, behaviors, and girls. Instantly, his life changes from one of methodical scholarship to escapes to the lake for smoke breaks with his new friends and revenge pranks. Miles is thoroughly impressed with his new lifestyle as evidenced by the stream of monologue readers are privy to. When Alaska mentions that she will be staying at school over the Thanksgiving break, Miles jumps at the chance to be her sole company. Her emotions are erratic, which Miles finds intriguing, but eventually Alaska's emotions get the best of her and she spirals out of control. Miles and his friends try to figure out what went wrong and if they could have done more.
• Critical evaluation: Looking for Alaska was such a story. Don't get me wrong--it had many of the components found in your garden variety YA--tumultuous emotions, "finding" oneself, and some sort of substance ingestion. But it seemed that John Green had such a great handle on how to turn the corners in this novel, how to really show the way a group of teenagers feed off one another's energy and revel in sneaking off to do whatever it is they want to do--even if it's just sitting around in a barn talking and drinking some crummy wine. Alaska gets in a car accident and dies halfway through the novel, so much of the novel is exploring the way her friends feel in her absence, not just the drama that leads up to her fateful crash. I really appreciated the pacing of the novel and the maturity lent to the characters in the novel.
• Reader's annotation: Miles knew his life would be different when he left for boarding school. It just had to.
• About the author: John Green lives in Indianapolis, Indiana and won the Michael L. Printz award for Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines.
• Genre: Fiction
• Curriculum ties, if any: none
• Booktalking ideas:
• Do you collect anything like Miles collections famous last names?
• What would you do if your friend was having a hard time like Alaska?
• Reading level/interest age: 15+
• Challenge issues: Sexuality, substance usage, profanity
• Why was this item included? Winner of the Michael L. Printz award.