Looking For Alaska :: Education by Design Store

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2008-07-25
John Green has an impressive imagination but he might consider investing in a class on the formalities of novel writing if that's the format he wants to present his ideas in as it's something Looking For Alaska demonstrates his lack of competence at. The interesting parts of the book are made up of a series of ideas that might just as well have been presented as a "wouldn't it be cool if..." list. The rest is just the neccessary banality to make a novel framework. It was worth reading for the first half but the 100 pages after Alaska (spoilers alert!!) dies is much sparser in terms of quirky cool ideas. Pudge's emotional outbursts seem to contradict his character and the unravelling of the mystery of where/why Alaska was driving is implausably presented as rational deduction.

A far cry from Holden and Catcher in the Rye

2008-07-20
As an English teacher, I'm always drawn to new novels that will appeal to high school students. One review on the back cover mentioned "In the spirit of Holden Caufield." I would say this novel is a far cry from Catcher in the Rye. Sure, Miles learns about life and his completely changed by seaching for the Great Perhaps, but his journey cannot hold a candle to the quest of Holden.
Like Jane Gallagher, Alaska captivates Miles interest. She is the "perfect" woman to Miles. However, Alaska herself is more of a head case or outcast. I'm wondering if maybe Mr. Green meant for Alaska to be the protagonist in the novel and not Miles.
I truly thought the first section "Before" was much better written and captivated me more than the second section "After".
I do think teenagers would enjoy this, mainly for the heavy drinking and sexual details. I'm wondering if Mr. Green added some of these for shock value or for young appeal. In away, it's a shame. It makes the novel too graphic to teach in the classroom, although it would make a great "outside" reading option.

dragged on a bit

2008-07-14
this book is a very accurate portrayal of growing up bored out of your mind with nothing else to do but cause trouble. the characters are people you know and can connect with, though I could only connect with Alaska. In the end it dragged on a bit and the plot twists were easily read before they happened. the last maybe 100 pages are not necessary. still a good read.

Greatest Book~*~* MUST READ

2008-05-07
Looking for Alaska by John Green, is an amazing book. I was a little apprehensive about reading it with my 10th graders, but they immediately fell in love with the book. For some of them, this was the first book they've ever finished, and at age 15-16 I think that speaks for itself.

You get so wrapped up in this book, you laugh, you cry, and you look at your own life. As soon as I finished I wanted to turn right back to the first page and start reading again, which isn't something that normally happens.

I would recommend this book to anyone above the age of 14. It's amazing and I can't wait to introduce it to more students.

Moving and pertinent

2008-05-05
I teach high school, and I really wanted to read this to my students. Unfortunately, it has some language usage and sexual references that make it impossible to read as a class. I would recommend it to a high school student, however. It is pertinent to things that may be happening in their lives, and it has some powerful literary elements that may someday make it a classic.

Great book for teens or adults

2008-04-09
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults

An ALA Quick Pick

A Los Angeles Times 2005 Book Prize Finalist

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

A 2005 Booklist Editor’s Choice

A 2005 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (François Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . After. Nothing is ever the same.

Very intriguing. 2008-02-26
I loved this book. First of all it's a short read. I have gotten two of my friends to read it in the past week and they both loved it. It's amazing because you don't see many of these types of books written by male authors. John Green gives new life to this type of literature and I am excited to read An Abundance of Katherines next.

Great. 2008-02-25
This is a fantastic book that I reccomend for teens and young adults. Witty and original, it is a great novel.

powerful and gritty 2008-02-16
Green's novel gives us a truly memorable cast of characters, each with their own distinct voice and personality. That in itself is rare enough in YA fiction. He then mixes them together in boarding school life, throws in some family trauma (though I do ask: why is it the scholarship students only who seem to have emotionally difficult backgrounds?), lots of sarcasm, a tradition of pranks-- and leaves us to sort it all out. His "countdown" device of chapter/section headings makes the reader all too aware that some tragedy is coming their way, inextricably, but all are blind to it. That, in itself, is a lesson. The count back up shows us that there is time for healing, but that healing is a working-through, a process, and that we should not take adolescent grief lightly.

In fact, we should not take any adolescent emotion lightly. These are not superficial raging hormones. Yes, this may be a time in which the characters feel things particularly intensely, but Green shows us that this intensity has its own depths. Certainly, there are a few shallow people at the time of the tragedy, and Miles, our narrator, points them out. But Miles and his group are not shallow, and they are determined to make meaning out of tragedy; they are still young enough to believe that death must intrinsically have discernable meaning (witness Miles' obsession with last words).

This is a powerful book, one that will slam you in the solar plexus. Miles' group may not be popular, but don't expect perfect behavior of them; smoking, sex, and swearing are integrated into daily life. Vitality blooms and surges on every page, and when that vitality is cut off, we find our countdown-countup plot.

Liked it a lot 2008-02-15
I really didn't know what to expect of this book and that blindness made me enjoy it so very much, I'm not a good reviewer but I can tell you that this is a great book, a page turner that can be easily be read only in one or to days because you just don't want to stop reading. Most girls have some Alaska in them and the story and its feelings are told in a way that you can't help to relate.