Module 5 – Looking for Alaska

Cover art retrieved from its record in worldcat

 

Bibliography

Green, J.  (2005). Looking for Alaska.  New York: Penguin

Summary

Miles Halter is tired of his boring life at home.  His decision to attend Culver Creek Boarding School, the school where his father attended, was made in the hope to make a new life for himself.  At the school he quickly makes friends with his room make, nicknamed The Colonel, who in turn introduced him to Alaska and Takumi. Falling in love with Alaska was life changing for Miles, especially after an accident took her life, leaving him and his friends with questions about why she died while trying to deal with their own grief.

My Impressions

This is one of those stories that some will like and others will abhor due to language and topics covered.   The author covered some heavy philosophical topics that many teens face. While it was well written, it wasn’t one of my favorite books.

Reviews/Awards

Michael L, Printz Award 2006

Teens’ Top 10 Award 2006

Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Finalist 2005

“Green…has a writer’s voice, so self-assured and honest that one is startled to learn that this novel is his first. The anticipated favorable comparisons to Holden Caufield are richly deserved in this highly recommended addition to young adult literature.”—VOYA

“Like Phineas in John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace,” Green draws Alaska so lovingly, in self-loathing darkness as well as energetic light, that readers mourn her loss along with her friends.”-- School Library Journal, Starred Review

Suggested Activities

For students within a school library, the teacher could talk about the themes found within the book and have the librarian teach them how to search the database or card catalog to find additional books with similar themes.