Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska is a novel written by John Green. It was his first novel and he won the Michael L. Prints awards for it and many other awards. Even though he won these awards for the book shortly after it came out it didn’t get much recognition until in 2012, 7 years later. It got to the New York times bestseller list at number ten in children’s paperback. John Green has written many other books including the New York times bestseller The fault in our stars.

The story takes place in Culver Creek Preparatory High School which is a boarding school in Birmingham, Alabama. This story is about Miles Halter, he is a normal teenage boy who memorizes famous last words. Miles is new at this school and he doesn’t have any friends. His roommate The Colonel introduces him to his friends Lara, Takumi and Alaska Young. Alaska is smart, funny, gorgeous, mysterious and screwed-up and Miles falls in love with her. She drags him into her world of drinking and smoking and playing pranks.

On the night before school begins, a few of the rich boys, known as the Weekday Warriors come and take Miles from his bed in the middle of the night. They wrap him in tape like a mummy and throw him into a lake on campus. He survives and The Colonel promises to help him prank them in revenge. My favorite character is Alaska because she is so confident and funny and everyone who knows her loves her and when people get to know her she becomes very important to them. I really liked this book, it took a while to get into but when you get into it you can’t put it down. I wouldn’t say it is exciting but there is something about it that makes you want to keep reading and you always have questions that you want answers to. It is well worth reading and I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.