Review Detail

Reader reviewed by MssJos

What I like about Green's male protagonists is that they aren't jocks, captain of the football team, wizards, invisible, or extraordinary in any particular way (well except for maybe being child prodigies or having memorized every famous persons' last words). Other than though, they are typically completely regular guys who are in search of something. In Miles "Pudge" Halter's case, he is looking for the "Great Perhaps."

While I wasn't completely sure what the "Great Perhaps" was, and for that matter, neither was Miles, I was surely hoping he would find it at Culver Creek private school which happens to also be in the state where I live. (that's probably tmi for a blog but it's a big state so I feel okay about it).

Though the Great Perhaps eluded Miles for the majority of the novel, he did make his first real friend, take his first drink, smoke his first cigarette, and have his first sexual encounter. So it was a big year for Miles. Through Miles, Green reminds us what it was like when we first started letting our parents' voices fade into the background, making our own decisions (some good...some not so good) and living our own lives.

At Culver Creek, Miles meets Alaska Young, a beautiful but deeply troubled young woman who leaves a severe impression on everyone she meets. Alaska reminds me of an ancient Chinese proverb that states:

"Life is like a peice of paper, on which every passerby leaves a mark."

After meeting and befriending Alaska, Miles changes a great deal throughout the novel, sometimes in ways that might make parents reconsider sending their children to private school. But underneath it all, he remains an intelligent, believable, likable, confused young man. If you liked Laurie Halse Anderson's Twisted, and J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, you will enjoy Green's characters.

Looking for Alaska was a wonderful read and again, another great male perspective ya novel. Green's depiction of teenage dialogue is 100% authentic. Green accurately depicts how truly screwed up being a teenager can be and how the power of friendship can change your life forever. Alaska's intensity, and Miles' need for it, keep the pages of the novel turning rapidly.