She taught me everything I knew about crawfish and kissing and pink wine and poetry. She made me different.

About

Some probably know John Green from his YouTube vlog “Vlogbrothers” and his entertaining educational videos. “Looking for Alaska,” released in 2005, is his debut novel and has been awarded numerous prizes. The story can be described as a coming-of-age tale centered around 16-year-old Miles, who transfers to a boarding school and meets Alaska — “the hottest girl in all of human history” (p. 14) — and immediately falls in love with her.

Plot

Miles collects words: the last words of famous people. These fascinate him. He leaves his school in Florida, where he is considered unpopular, and transfers to a boarding school in Alabama — he explains the reason for this step with the last words of Francois Rabelais: “I go to seek a Great Perhaps” (p. 5). At the new school, he quickly befriends his roommate Chip “The Colonel” and the extraordinary Alaska Young. Alaska fascinates him. She is different from her classmates, thoughtful, fearless, and reckless. A somber aura surrounds her, and Miles is immediately attracted to her. Alaska pulls Miles into her world, into the “Great Perhaps” that he has set out to find.

Together, they discuss life, growing up, and the big question that seems to govern Alaska’s life: “How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?” (p.158). During a large-scale prank against some students who had tied Miles up with tape and thrown him into the lake on the school grounds on his first day, the friends drink a lot of alcohol along with the Colonel and other schoolmates. Finally, Alaska talks about the tragedy that weighs heavily on her. It is a guilt she cannot forgive herself for and for which she wishes for death.

Soon after, Alaska makes a phone call and leaves the school grounds in her car, upset and hysterical. After that, nothing is the same: Miles’ “Great Perhaps” and Alaska’s “labyrinth of suffering” suddenly become real.

Nothing is instant. Instant rice takes five minutes, instant pudding an hour. I doubt that an instant of blinding pain feels particularly instantaneous.

For readers…

…who like real stories that tug at their hearts. Stories where one remembers their first great love and the first great pain. This is a story about joy and sorrow, loss and gain. And about how hard it is to grow up and how much can go wrong.

A great book: an honest, believable story. Worth reading!