I've offered in the past if a teen is willing to write a review of a book, TV show, video game, or movie that I would post in on this blog and offer community service hours for the review. Here's one on the great (my opinion) book Looking for Alaska by John Green:
“I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” It is these last words of poet François Rabelais that inspire Miles Halter, a typical sixteen year old whose hobbies include memorizing famous people’s last words, to seek more out of his tedious life in Florida. Miles heads to Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama in search of his “Great Perhaps.”He ends up discovering the true meaning of friendship, loyalty, love and life beyond the unknown.
Broken up into two sections entitled Before and After, John Green’s Looking for Alaska, chronicles the lives of five teenagers attending Culver Creek boarding school. In the Before section, readers get enveloped in the characters unique personalities and alluring lifestyles. The novel takes a leisurely start as the main characters are introduced. This slow progression is necessary for the development of the characters, and I advise you not to become discouraged. It quickly picks up once the reader meets Chip Martin, appropriately nicknamed “The Colonel”, Miles’ mischievous roommate with a mastermind for pranks. The two automatically hit it off. Chip grants the scrawny, rail-thin Miles the contradictory nickname “Pudge.” Miles is referred to as Pudge for the remainder of the novel. Pudge’s world is turned upside down when he meets the alluring Alaska Young. He automatically falls for her irresistible charm and sex appeal. “Now is as good a time as any to say that she was beautiful. In the dark beside me, she smelled of sweat and sunshine and vanilla…She had the kind of eyes that predisposed you to support her every endeavor. And not just beautiful, but hot, too...” Green’s enticing description of Alaska causes the reader to fall just as hard for her unique, mysterious demeanor. Alaska pulls Pudge into her “labyrinth,” as they muse over Simón Bolívar’s last words, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” They grow closer in between drinking, smoking, falling in love, the occasional homework and most importantly, planning pranks of epic measures with fellow colleagues Takumi and Lara. In the After section, nothing is the same.
Green’s target audience is high school students, although the novel was criticized in the past for its slightly risqué subject matter. Green accurately depicts the “teen” lifestyle as behaviors that are realistic aspects of teens’ lives. Commonsensemedia.org rates the book appropriate for ages 14 and older. I found Looking for Alaska extremely relatable. It is an exceptional novel with an astounding cast of characters. It is a story about loss, gain and how to move on from tragedy. Readers will come away with a crucial message about life, friendship, and finding the hope to continue towards what may seem like an unimaginable future.
AJ
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