Title: Looking for AlaskaAuthor: John Green
Publication Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 221
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Geographical Setting: boarding school in Alabama
Time period: mid 2000s
Series: N/A
Plot: Sixteen year old Miles “Pudge” Halter has left his uneventful life in Florida to attend Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. Immediately there is a promise of adventure as he makes friends with his prank-planning roommate, the Colonel, and the fascinating Alaska Young. Pudge falls for Alaska and is drawn into her world of danger, literature, sadness and self-destruction.
Subject Headings: boarding school, drunk driving, pranks, friendship
Appeal: Awarded the Michael L. Printz Award from the ALA. Death of a parent. Teens without parental supervision. Teen involvement with drinking, smoking, some drug use, sex. Famous last words play a prominent role. Battles between the have and have nots. Loyalty and friendship.
If you liked Looking for Alaska, you might enjoy: Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why. Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. Gregory Galloway’s As Simple as Snow.
