- Summary: Miles wants to get away from his friendless, uninteresting life at his current school and decides that attending the same private school his father did is a great way to find his Great Perhaps. Once he arrives, he meets the Colonel, Alaska, and Takumi, all juniors like himself. They are all about pranks at the school, and he manages to get in with the top pranksters. After being hazed by other students, his group avoids the Eagle, the dean of the school, and goes on a pranking war. After their pre-prank of putting blue hair dye in kid’s shampoo, they spend the night drinking and celebrating. Alaska suddenly bolts and says she needs to get out, so the Colonel and Miles pop fireworks as a distraction for her. Unfortunately, she dies in a car crash when she leaves and her friends are left to mourn her and try to figure out what happened and how to get out of the labyrinth of life.
- Textbook: This novel is a great example of teenage realistic fiction, although I feel like not all students would be able to identify with the private school atmosphere. I know for my students the idea of leaving the public school life is something they could never imagine. But, they can absolutely identify with Miles’s desire to fit in, to be loved and wanted by a girl, and the crushing loss of one of his best friends and thinking he was to blame. Guilt is a heavy theme in this novel that far too many young adults deal with these days. Miles, the Colonel, and Takumi all suffer guilt due to Alaska’s death; Alaska feels guilt and shame for not calling 911 when her mother passed out and died. The way they handle their guilt is a lesson for young readers: do you embrace the guilt, realize some things can’t be helped, and move on? Or, do you let the guilt rule your life and run you into the ground?
Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment