Summer Book #6

Looking for Alaska by John Green

This was my second foray into the world of John Green, and although not quite as poignant as the first of his books that I read, it did speak to me.

First of all, Alaska is a girl. A very hot girl, who also happens to be smart. She reads, she smokes, she drinks Strawberry Hill, and she pulls pranks. All the boys love her, but they know they don't have a chance with her because she is so in love with her boyfriend. Alaska is also damaged. When she was eight, her mother died, and Alaska didn't call 911 because she didn't really know she was dying. She has lived with this guilt for eight years.

The thing is, this book really isn't about Alaska. It's about her friends Miles, aka Pudge, and Chip, aka The Colonel, and how they grow as people, especially Pudge.

Pudge is from Florida, and feels like there is more to life than what he is living, so he asks his parents if he can attend the boarding school his father went to in Alabama. When he gets there, he meets The Colonel, who is his roommate. Their circumstances are very different, but they become fast friends, particularly after a prank is pulled on Pudge that could have killed him. Alaska lives down the hall, and is who they go to to purchase cigarettes. As I indicated previously, all the boys are in love with Alaska in one way or another.

The book is told in two parts: before the incident and after the incident. Before deals with their escapades at school: smoking, getting drunk, planning pranks, studying. Typical teen stuff. After deals with the aftermath, and how Pudge and The Colonel deal with it.

Very touching. Loved it. However, there is substance abuse mentioned, foul language, and some semi-explicit sex. In reading the 1-star reviews on Amazon, that was the biggest complaint about the book. Doesn't bother me. I work with teenagers, and this seems to be in line with how many of their lives are.