Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9849 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-03
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Synopsis
First drink, first prank, first friend, first girl, last words - this is a poignant and moving crossover novel about making friends and growing up from American author, John Green. Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words - and tired of his safe, boring and rather lonely life at home. He leaves for boarding school filled with cautious optimism, to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. "Looking for Alaska" brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another.

Customer Reviews

One of the best books I've ever read
At first, I was just intrigued by the fact that, instead of titles, the book was divided into sections titled "___ days before" (I think it starts at about 182). In the middle, there was a black page which I flipped to. It just said "After" and from then the sections were "_____ days after." Being a Brotherhood 2.0 fan already (a video blog that John Green and his brother did every weekday for a year), I can't pretend that I'm not biased. I definitely wanted to like this book. But I also wouldn't pretend that it wasn't one of the best books that I've ever read. Just the titles of the sections keep you in suspense and then the mystery afterwards makes you want to keep reading. It's a must-read for anyone who likes young adult fiction (and people who don't, too)

Beautiful
I have read this book atleast ten times since I bought it last year and every time I laugh and cry. John Green has created personalities that both genders can relate to, be joyful for and cry for. It is beautifully writen and stays in my head for days after reading it. I generally read fantasy books and when I bought this I was skeptical as to whether it was money well spent. I can clarify now that "Looking For Alaska" is one of my all time favourites and after reading it I could pick it up and start all over again. I would recommend this book to any teenager regardless of their reading tendencies.

Looking For Alaska
I was casually scanning the books in the Young Adult section at Borders, when a guy who worked there came up to me and reccomended this book. I was a little skeptical - he was about 25 and not really the kind I'd imagine reading books aimed at teens, but the way he talked about this book intrigued me entirely. So, as there wasn't anything else interesting me in the slightest, I though - what the hell? Plus, he said that if I didn't like it I could come back and he'd refund me.

I'm so unbelievably glad that I bought it. Green captures the way a teenagers mind works perfectly - and the way he portrayed Miles being hopelessly in love was perfect. Miles is a young boy who joins Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama and befriends Chip 'Colonel' Martin; a sarcastic, trailor-bred intellectual who teaches Miles the way things work.

Immediately, I was curious with the he set out the chapters; divided into two halves - before and after a defining moment in Mile's life. It wasn't soppy or unrealistic - it's a story about a normal boy falling in love with a girl who - in his eyes - is perfect. The main girl Alaska is an endearing character - the author makes you want to know more about her; she's the epitomy of 'cool', but her underlying story gives her more depth, and you realise that there's a lot more to her and that her smile is a mask for her past. Filled with drinking, pranks and cigarettes - Looking For Alaska gives an insight into what teenage life is all about, and the harrowing reality of how precious life is.