Looking for Alaska by John Greene

Green, J. (2005). Looking for alaska. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Miles Halter is a 16 year old young man who is beginning his first year at Culver Creek Boarder School as a junior. He is known for memorizing the last words of famous people. He makes friends with his roommate, Chip “The Colonel” who gives Miles a nickname, “Pudge” and introduces him to the school. The Colonel takes Pudge to meet his longtime friend, Alaska Young, whom Miles develops feelings for. One night, Alaska shares with her friends that she witnessed her mother’s death as a child. Then, Pudge and Alaska make out while they are drunk, suddenly she starts crying and says that she has to leave for an unknown reason. The student body is then gathered in the gym the next day and they were told that Alaska had died in a terrible car crash. The boys were in shock as they heard the terrible news because neither of them was expecting it. Alaska seemed fine the last time they saw her. Pudge and Chip started questioning everyone around them. They needed to get to the bottom of Alaska’s death and figure out who was responsible for her death. Pudge and the Colonel decide to pull one last prank worthy of Alaska on Speaker Day, they hire a male stripper who strips in front of the school. In the end, Pudge finds the meaning of the Great Perhaps, which is interpreted as, “the labyrinth of life has no end.” 

Depression, loss of a love one, and suicide are themes depicted in this novel. There was a feeling of depression and sense of loss in school as the news of Alaska’s death had reached the student body. It affected many of the students as things were not going to be the same without Alaska. Pudge and the Colonel both experience depression as they feel guilty for Alaska’s death since they didn’t stop her that night. They even believe she may have killed herself, then they find out that the day before that night was the day Alaska's mom had died, and she had forgotten.

The characters definitely value friendship equally and is also a central theme in this novel. Miles wants to leave Florida to seek his Great Perhaps and find friends, and he does. Even though his friends introduce him to booze and mischief, they also accept him for who he is. But the novel also highlights how messy friendship can be, friends don't always like each other, friends tell each other hard truths, and friends get into arguments and fight with one another. When Alaska dies though, the bonds that have been created with and around her, help her grieving friends come to terms with her death and their role in it.

Another theme is the use of alcohol. I believe that alcohol use in Looking for Alaska is tied to breaking the rules and getting away with it. For Miles drinking is a way into social acceptance, for the Colonel alcohol is a way to celebrate and mourn, but for Alaska alcohol is a way to cope with and soften the pain and guilt that she feels about her mother's death.

These themes are part of the genre criteria of this novel and could be use by teachers and counselors to teach students the consequences of alcohol use, the meaning of friendship and what it entails. The importance of discovering oneself and the healing process as one is learning to close old wounds with a love one that has passed on. I believe that this novel could interest students ages 14 and up as many of these issues are concerns they experienced in their everyday life and through their high school years. This magnificent novel consists of 221 pages.