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Book Review: Looking for Alaska #150Books

December 9, 2014 by Kenna Griffin

I was buying The Fault in Our Stars for my daughter to read when I ran across John Green’s book,  Looking for Alaska.

The book is about 16-year-old Miles Halter and his adventures with the friends he makes while attending boarding school in Birmingham, Ala.

John GreenMiles is the most “vanilla” of the students, a good boy from a traditional family in Florida. He goes to boarding school searching for the “great perhaps.” I’m pretty sure he finds it.

Miles’s roommate, Chip, is a poor scholarship student with a rebellious side. Chip’s best friend, Alaska Young, is a beautiful, vague, complex, sad girl who Miles soon falls in love with. Takumi and Lara, both international students, round out the group.

The book is organized in “before” and “after” sections, but I wasn’t really sure what they meant until I reached the book’s climax. I won’t ruin that for you here but, when it occurred, I couldn’t put the book down.

A friend who also read the book said it wasn’t Green’s best writing, but she enjoyed it. It would be difficult to top The Fault in Our Stars (Read my full review.), but I think Looking for Alaska is a close second. The thing that strikes me about the book is how Green captures the extreme way teens experience seemingly all feelings through his characters.

It may not be The Fault in Our Stars, but Looking for Alaska certainly is worth a read.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above (typically those to books) may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I promise that I only recommend products or services I use personally and think will provide you value. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Comments

  1. jaredminson says

    November 29, 2016 at 10:29 am

    brtnypls yep! I really liked it

    Reply

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Prof KRG

Prof KRG aims to create an ongoing educational dialogue among media professionals, students and educators.

Please let me know what resources you need or topics you wish you better understood. If I don't know the information, I'm happy to seek out someone who does.

Contact me via email at kennagriffin@gmail.com.

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About Kenna Griffin

I am a mass communications professor, journalist and collegiate media adviser. I teach classes including those on writing, reporting, media law, media ethics, social media marketing, and public relations. I am married, have two children and live in Oklahoma. More about this site's purpose

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