Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska by John Green, Copyright 2005, Realistic Fiction


Looking for Alaska starts when the main character,Miles, a.k.a "Pudge" moves from his home town to study at Culver Creek Boarding School and to go and seek, what he describes as,"The Great Perhaps."

Here Pudge meets, "The Colonel," his best friend (and partner in crime) throughout the book.

Soon Pudge meets a girl named Alaska, who is strikingly beautiful, impulsive, and aloof. Alaska becomes for Pudge, the embodiment of this,"Great Perhaps" that he is so desperately searching for. Alaska  toys with Pudge's emotions; she is an emotional whirlwind that completely tears through his reality. Alaska leads Pudge and The Colonel  into a series of adventures (or misadventures) at their school that gets them into a lot of trouble. These experiences bind the three friends together and change everything for Pudge.

At one point in the book, Pudge figures that he finally, "has it all," but then something happens that turns his view of life upside-down. The rest of the book becomes just one question...,"What happens after?"

If I had to choose a theme for this book, I would use the words of  a quote provided by the author himself.
"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" ~Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 

The intended audience for this book is people from the ages of 14 to 16. This book is Realistic Fiction, and fits into this category because it is a novel written to sound like a true story.The author keeps you interested by providing a gripping and profound account of life, love, and loss. The author writes the book from Pudge's point of view. Seeing as the main character and the intended audience are the same age, I think this works well.

This book affected me more than any other I've read. It changed my view of death and love.

This book is the Romeo and Juliet of our generation, and a literary masterpiece. READ THIS BOOK!!!!


JOSH WRIGHT
12/17/13
RATING:*****