Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Looking for Alaska by John Green...

How I Heard About It:   One of my reading highlights last year was reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  I told all my friends about it and passed my copy on to many people.  I decided to give his other books a try so I thought I would begin with his first book.  

What It Is About:  The story revolves around Miles "Pudge" Halter who begins his first year at Culver Creek Boarding School.  His roommate Chip Martin (the Colonel) and Alaska Young become two important people to Pudge's introduction to the boarding school.  As he navigates his way through the ins and outs, he becomes more and more fascinated by both of these young people.  His first year at school is divided into two parts.  Everything that happens to Miles "before" an incident and everything that happens to him "after" the incident.  He learns a lot from Alaska about life and living it to the fullest with risks and all.  As the year progresses, Miles becomes quite close to both Chip and Alaska, but there will be consequences to these growing relationships.  

What I Thought Of It:  For me the book can be broken down into two parts.  As I mentioned earlier, the story is cut into two sections.  The first half of the book is the events leading up to an incident that takes place in the middle of the story.  The second half of the book is all the happens after the incident and how the characters deal with it.  I liked both halves, but really thought the book took off during the second part of the novel.  It was at this point that I couldn't put the book down and raced to the end to find out what would happen.  I don't think this novel was as good as The Fault in Our Stars, but I certainly did enjoy it.  

Who Should Read It:  Being a young adult novel, I think this would be the perfect novel for any high school readers all the way up to mature adult readers.  This is a wonderful coming of age story and the reader can relate to all three main characters in the story.  If you are a fan of any of John Green's novels, then you will certainly enjoy his first book.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars



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