Review Response

After finishing this book and reading the opinion of the reviewer as well as my hearing the opinion of my peers who read the book, I think it’s safe to say that there are quite a few differences to be found depending on how you look at things. I loved reading this book. This book kept me on the edge of my seat fort the first three quarters and, in my opinion, did offer a satisfying ending in a way that taught me a lesson in life about questions and answers. The book was unlike many others that wrap up all the loose ends towards the ending of the book by leaving the biggest question dangling in front of us. Due to our natural craving for answers, it is upsetting not to really know what happened or why it happened however, the point of this ending was not only just to contrast Miles and his love of last words (which he would never know for Alaska) but also to show that in life things aren’t always just laid out for you and that you just don’t always get the answers you’re looking for. I find this empty answer for an ending really made me think and more of a good change since it creates so much reflection on your own life and what happens in it. I would definitely recommend the book to my friends.

As for the review by “The Super Librarian”, I think they make some very good points about the story and found myself agreeing to many comments in their review. I found the language in used in the book to be very raw and real. Reactions were real and not given a sort of sugar coding to make them seem more appropriate for a novel, the characters were a bunch of teenagers and he actually let them speak as a bunch of teenagers. The characters definitely were not the perfect examples for how to behave but it was because of this that they were such relatable and enjoyable characters. Miles was not the perfect guy, he barely tried to be, her wanted someone who didn’t want him back, he cursed and smoked and drank with the rest of them, but he was more relatable that way. It’s hard to relate to a cookie cutter character that has everything going for them, if you give us someone who is imperfect then it gives us a chance to connect with how they feel and see things which I did. The reviewer also mentions how chasing the Great Perhaps is unpredictable and while you open yourself up to friends and pranks you also open yourself up to love and disappointment. I really like that point because I feel it is well backed up by the book and by life; if you live closed off nothing exciting will ever happen but when you open yourself up you’re going to get the good and the bad and all the emotions in-between. In conclusion, I feel the review for “Looking for Alaska” was quite well said and think it has become a book I would truly recommend.

-Lauren

Novel Review Response

            I agree with this review completely. I really liked the way that it summarized the book, adding the key points and interesting things about the book, without spoiling any important events. I really liked how he added that Pudge’s way of looking at things were changed after going through everything he went through with both Alaska and the Colonel. It was clear to us after reading it what he was talking about. The fact that Pudge had no friends at his old school and then went to Culver Creek and had great moments, but also very sad moments, it is quite obvious to us that he is no longer the same boy that he was on the first day.

            I really enjoyed reading this review because it put in to perspective things that I hadn’t previously noticed. He said “The novel is populated with anti-stereotypical characters such as the sex loving girl, Alaska,  the Asian rap-master Takumi, the poor yet loving-mothered Colonel, and a headmaster who punishes the young prangsters, but cares deeply for them.”  I had never really thought about the fact that all of these characters were anti-stereotypical, I understood their character, but never realized this. I love the way that the critic wrote about this specific element of anti-stereotypical in a way that makes it sound exciting and different to read. In my opinion, many books these days include characters that are very stereotypical in one way or another. I enjoyed this book so much because it is unlike anything I’ve read before, and this review speaks about that key point of the book.

            The final thing that the review mentions is that this novel “will have teens thinking about the meaning of life and relationships,” and “the story is told in such a realistic way that readers will be sure to relate”. I agree completely with both of these statements. Many times during this book I stopped and just thought about life and the value of relationships. It really made me open up my thoughts about how other people and I look at life and death. When it comes to understanding the meaning of friendship, I think that the most important thing that I got out of it was that you shouldn’t take your friends, or anybody, for granted because you’ll never know if that will be the last time you see them. In summary, I really liked the review chosen and I could very easily relate to what the author wrote about the novel, Looking for Alaska.

Kira

Final Opinions

I don’t know if this review gives a formal recommendation about this book, but I will and I’d say that it isn’t my favorite book and in my opinion, I wouldn’t tell my friends to read this book. My biggest pet peeve about this book is the ending. I thought it was very unfulfilling and left a lot of questions unanswered. Even though leaving these questions hanging would be the true “ending” to a real life event, I think books should conclude with all the important questions answered and this book didn’t do that. I know this book has won awards for being well written and everything else technical, but I didn’t really like the story line. I thought it was quite boring after the big event of Alaska’s death. I found Pudge and the Colonel were searching for unanswerable questions for the last half of the book and it never went anywhere, again, at the ending.

I do appreciate that this book was written well. I think if the author didn’t write so well, I wouldn’t have been as intent to get to the end of the book. I like his perspective on things and I agree with the review saying that all the characters were anti-stereotypical and this was quite an interesting view on things. I find when I’m reading a book about kids of school age, the characters are all the same but John Green flipped that all around. When reading his Looking For Alaska, and learned more about a characters way of thinking and personality traits, then you realize they aren’t the person you thought they were. I thought that was very creative and made the story more interesting to read.

Overall, my impression of this book isn’t so great; although it was well written, I couldn’t get over my frustration of the end and the particular monotony the last half of the book held. I’m glad I read it because it allowed me to see my dislikes in literature for the future, but I would never read this book again.

~Amanda

Looking For Alaska Book Review by "The Super Librarian"

Plot Summary
Loner Miles Halter, (later known as Pudge,) leaves his public high school to seek “The Great Perhaps,” which may or may not include shenanigans, mischief, and much learning. He is a smart boy, who has a fascination with last words. He culls these from the biographies of famous persons. At Culver Creek Boarding School, Pudge meets The Colonel and Alaska, two friends who change his life and the way he looks at things, forever.

Critical Evaluation
Looking for Alaska deals with death, finding your place, history, and being present in time and place. The language is realistic and Pudge’s voice is honest and relatable. Life is portrayed through Pudge’s eyes as an exhilarating, invigorating experience. The novel is populated with anti-stereotypical characters such as the sex loving girl, Alaska,  the Asian rap-master Takumi, the poor yet loving-mothered Colonel, and a headmaster who punishes the young prangsters, but cares deeply for them.
Pudge’s questioning mind and escapades will have teens thinking about the meaning of life and relationships, and while there is a message (the characters experience much sadness,) the story is told in such a realistic way that readers will be sure to relate.

Reader’s Annotation
Pudge seeks his “Great Perhaps,” which he assumes is pranks and mischief, as well as real friends, at his new boarding school. But what he comes to find, is that the Great Perhaps is much more unpredictable. By opening himself up to the Great Perhaps, he also opens himself up to real love and disappointment.

About the Author
John Green is the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. He is also the coauthor, with David Levithan, of Will Grayson, Will Grayson. He was 2006 recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a 2009 Edgar Award winner, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Green’s books have been published in more than a dozen languages.
Green’s book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review and Booklist, a wonderful book review journal where he worked as a publishing assistant and production editor while writing Looking for Alaska. Green grew up in Orlando, Florida before attending Indian Springs School and then Kenyon College.
Retrieved on September 24^th, 2010 from http://johngreenbooks.com/.

Genre
-Realistic Fiction
Curriculum Ties
-Biographies
-Philosophy
-Should be included in every school counselor’s office
Booktalking Ideas
-Last words, boarding school, pranks, deep friendships, and belonging
Reading Level/Interest Age
16+

Challenge Issues
The book depicts students smoking, drinking, and engaging in sexual exploration, though these are definitely not central to the book’s themes of philosophy, death, and friendship.
The book clearly demonstrates that these behaviors do have dire consequences. By depicting things realistically, teens may think twice about the reality of behaviors they are currently engaging in or that their friends are engaging in. So while the book does not provide a rosy view of perfectly behaved students, it does provide them a framework from which to understand consequences and real life experiences such as death, and relationships, with honesty.
This title was the winner of an Edgar Award in 2009, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Why did you include this book?
John Green won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2006 for Looking for Alaska. According to Horn Book Magazine, it “got high marks for both literary quality and teen appeal (Hunt, 2009, p.399)”.

Found here: http://thesuperlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/looking-for-alaska-by-john-green-2005-new-york-dutton-books-isbn-10-014241221x/

Looking For Alaska journal entry 4

The final quarter of this book was a very enjoyable read. In this quarter of the book Miles finally gets some sense of freedom when he writes the note to Chip about Alaska suicide. He writes that he knows Alaska forgives him for everything that he did to her, and that gives him a sense of relief after a long time of trying to figure out what truly happened to Alaska. I think that “ the great perhaps” that Miles so desperately wanted, was in fact Alaska. In the end of the book Miles is a completely different person then when we first started reading. I think Alaska is the “great perhaps” because she made Miles into the person he wanted to be. Alaska got him a beautiful girlfriend, she took him out of his comfort zone and made him the person he wanted to be, making him a happier person. Before Miles had no friends and had no self motivation, now he has many great friends that he will probably be friends with for life. I know my mom has told me many times that when you go to summer camps and other things much like Culver Creek, you come back having unforgettable memories and life long friends. I think after reading this book I could see myself going to a boarding school just for the experience like miles has had in this book. When Miles leaves the note for Chip, you get this sense of feeling that you have just been through this huge adventure right along side with Miles, Chip and Takuimi. Its almost a sad feeling knowing the book is over and the adventure is over.

Corey ;)

When I saw this picture it had such an impact after just finishing the story. It made me feel kind of eerie since that was what Alaska said was her solution to escaping the labyrinth and, in the end, how she died.

-Lauren

Journal Entry #4

Personally, I didn’t really enjoy this last part of the book as much as the last 3 quarters. I found it rather dull for the most part. A majority of this part of the book was Pudge and the Colonel looking for answers of Alaska’s death. They search for the how and why answers and try to decide whether or not her death was a suicidal or accidental. They went to the police station and called Jake and got some clarity, but still did not know whether or not it was an accidental death or a suicide. They search for the warning signs of suicide and find that Alaska only shows 2 of the many warning signs. Ever since I learned of Alaska’s death, I believed that it was a suicide, and I still think so.

            Pudge and Colonel got into their first big fight in this quarter of the novel. Pudge told Colonel that he didn’t want to know what Jake had to say about Alaska’s death, and the Colonel got upset with him. He started to talk about how Pudge doesn’t even care about her and that he was just lost in his fantasy romance about Alaska. It’s obvious that Pudge reacted to this very badly and stormed off. I don’t think that this was fair of the Colonel to say. They have just both lost a very close friend, and he didn’t consider Pudge and his feelings when he was talking to them, and ended up hurting him very badly in consequence.

            I found it very immature of Pudge to just ignore Lara, his girlfriend, after Alaska’s death. They pretty much officially ‘broke up’ through their mutual friend, Takumi, which I thought, was quite lame. Eventually he talked to her and they became friends again, which I thought was great. Pudge and Colonel were very isolated from their friends for a long time, and even excluded Takumi on many occasions. It was clear to us that Takumi was bitter about this even when they stopped excluding him and told him the truth about the night Alaska died. Near the end we find out that Takumi also saw Alaska the night she died, after she asked Pudge and the Colonel to help her escape. He kept this to himself for the longest time because he was upset with them for excluding him for the longest time.

            Another very important part of this quarter was the end of the year prank that they did in memory of Alaska. It was a prank that Alaska had preplanned for their senior year. Pudge and the Colonel organized her plan with the help of some other students. I thought this was very sweet and a great way to celebrate the life of Alaska. I truly believe that if Alaska was watching them execute her prank, she would have been so happy and proud of them. I thought that her idea was brilliant, and hiring a male stripper to strip in front of the school was hilarious. In summary, I really liked the book but the end was sort of dull. I enjoyed the style of writing and the story line and I think that I will read another book from the author, John Green.

-Kira