Looking for Alaska

1. Looking for Alaska Ashlynn Burk John Green Publisher: Speak 2006

2. This story takes place at a boarding school in Alabama. • A boy from Florida, Miles, comes to this school. He had no real friends at his old school, so boarding school was a great opportunity to start fresh. • He is happy to find that he easily made friends with the Colonel and his group of friends. Introduction

3. Miles Halter, nicknamed Pudge by the Colonel. • He was an awkward and quiet teenager, with no real friends until he went to boarding school and met friends. He became like these friends, losing some of his morals. He began smoking and drinking. • He loved memorizing people’s last words. • He tended to conform to those around him when it came to morality. • Miles was a dynamic character, who grew emotionally throughout the book. Protagonist

4. Alaska young was one of Mile’s friends at the boarding school. • She loved books, and had a very realistic view of the world. • She smoked and drank recklessly, not minding the strict rules of the boarding school. • She had a very carefree, and spontaneous personality. • She was very beautiful, and most of her male friends ended up falling in love with her. • She suffered with depression from incidents from her childhood. • She couldn’t wait to move out of Alabama. • Alaska was a great fan of elaborate pranks! Protagonist

5. The Weekday Warriors • These were the preppy, rich kids at the boarding school. • In one incident, these kids duct taped Miles and threw him into the lake. • The Colonel’s strong hatred of these kids is shown throughout the book, and especially after the duct tape incident. Antagonist

6. The central conflict is the unexpected “suicide” of one of the main characters. • This leaves everyone speechless, and very depressed. • Some of the friends of this victim of suicide, tried to figure out if it was a suicide, or just an unfortunate event. They also tried to figure out why the person did it. • A possible solution is, they could have talked to more family members of the suicide victim. Central Conflict

7. Lara, Miles’ 1st girlfriend at the boarding school. She was a pretty girl from Romania who embarked on the pranking quests. • The Colonel, Mile’s roommate, who was Mile’s first friend at the boarding school. He showed Mile’s to all of his friends and acceptingly added him to his group. • Takumi, a Japanese kid who was in the Colonel’s group of friends. He was also in love with Alaska, and took part in their pranking games. Minor Characters

8. “You know you've read a good book if it made you both laugh and cry, and Looking for Alaska did just that.”– NY Mom on Amazon. Found here. • “I went into it really excited, expecting a life-changing reading experience. It was just okay.”– Nancy. Found here. • “My first John Green book, but it definitely won't be the last.”– Natalie from Mindful Musings. Found here. Critic Reviews

9. All in all, I found this to be an enjoyable read. The author, John Green, proved to be a very articulate writer. One of the best things about the book, were the compilation of last words John Green put together. They were all carefully chosen, humorous, and thoughtful. I would recommend this book, and I will most likely read it again. My Review