by John Green
It’s the classic boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy loses girl story that we’ve all come to love, and it’s easy to see why Looking for Alaska has become a modern-day YA classic. It’s a found family of teenage misfits who quickly come to rely on one another on their journey to find The Great Perhaps.
Miles is a friendless loner who decides that a better life awaits at the boarding school in Alabama his father attended. His roommate, the Colonel, introduces him to his new family, including Alaska, their Japanese friend Takumi, and Miles’ brief love interest, Lara. Together, they struggle to fit in to a world split between the misfits and the Weekday Warriors—the rich kids who seem destined to run the world one day.
In a world that is not always fair or friendly, this new family is ripped apart by a tragic accident (sorry, no spoilers. This book was published in 2005!). The others are left behind to pick up the pieces and answer the question of ‘why.’ I love that John Green made this part of the book a bit of a mystery, with the gang finding and trying to make sense of a series of clues. At the end, it’s up to the reader to decide.
Looking for Alaska is a quick and entertaining read. If you’re a fan of YA coming-of-age in the spirit of 80’s John Hughes movies, this is a book for you.
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