Entry Four - Looking for Alaska

I chose to read "Looking for Alaska" from the Printz Award winning books.  The available list had a ton of really interesting books and I look forward to reading a few more, including:  Stuck in Neutral, by Terry Trueman.

The complete list of Michael Printz Winners can be found online at:  http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners

Looking for Alaska was a winner in 2006 and it is still a very popular book today.  Part of the reason is that the theme of finding yourself and growing up is a timeless and relevant theme and so many of us can relate to it.  A friend also recommended that they had read this a couple of years ago, had enjoyed it and thought that this would be a good book to blog about as the characters in this book are the same age as I am and I can relate to the stage in which they are growing up and changing.

The book was not boring because I could relate to the characters, the settings changed constantly, there was a lot of mystery and intrigue and it focused on the characters learning life lessons that my friends and I are going through in high school.  There is the pressure to be liked, the draw of an interesting and captivating character which would be similar to some of the popular kids at school.

I also picked this book because when discussing this project with my friends, we thought that it would be a great idea to read the book together and be able to discuss what was going on in the story together. 

During the summer, I was able to go on vacation, and bring one of my good friends along with me.  We read the book on the airplane, and discussed it with my mom and sister while we were having fun.  

I had a great summer and a great time reading "Looking for Alaska".

Entry Three - Looking for Alaska

 

 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

 

 

I have really enjoyed reading Looking for Alaska - although the title of the book implies that you, the reader, will focus on finding the character, Alaska, the deeper theme is how the main characters in the book truly end up trying to find themselves.  At the beginning of the story, we learn about Alaska, and how the characters Pudge and Chip, relate to her, want to be with her and focus on her wants and needs.  A great quote that captures how they feel about her is:  "So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”

 

Then...something terrible happens and Alaska dies.  The focus of the characters reaches into the depths of their loss and grief as they try to find out what happened to her and how they feel about her.  Truly, though, they begin to discover who they are and it becomes to be about finding themselves, where they are and what they want out of life instead of focusing on Alaska.

 

My favorite quote to demonstrate when Pudge and Chip stop seeing Alaska as the center of their universe and start to grow up and find out who they are, and their own worth in life is:

 

“When adults say, "Teenagers think they are invincible" with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.” 

 

 

I highly recommend that you read "Looking for Alaska".  I enjoyed the book and shared a lot of the themes with my friends this summer.