Looking for Alaska

For the television series based on the novel, see Looking for Alaska (miniseries).
Looking for Alaska
against a stark grey background, a large plume of smoke rises from an extinguished candle
Looking for Alaska first edition cover
AuthorJohn Green
Cover artistNolan Gadient
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult novel
PublisherDutton Juvenile
Publication date
2005
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages297
ISBN0-525-47506-0
OCLC55633822
LC ClassPZ7.G8233 Lo 2005

Looking for Alaska is a 2005 young adult novel by American author John Green. Based on his time at Indian Springs School, Green wrote the novel as a result of his desire to create meaningful young adult fiction.[1] The characters and events of the plot are grounded in Green's life, while the story itself is fictional.[1]

Looking for Alaska follows the novel's main character and narrator Miles Halter, or "Pudge," to boarding school where he goes to seek a "Great Perhaps," the famous last words of François Rabelais. Throughout the 'Before' section of the novel, Miles and his friends Chip "The Colonel" Martin, Alaska Young, and Takumi Hikohito grow very close and the section culminates in Alaska's death. In the second half of the novel, Miles and his friends work to discover the missing details of the night Alaska died. While struggling to reconcile Alaska's death, Miles grapples with the last words of Simón Bolívar and the meaning of life, leaving the conclusion to these topics unresolved.

Looking for Alaska is a coming-of-age novel that touches on themes of meaning, grief, hope, and youth–adult relationships. The novel won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, and led the association's list of most-challenged books in 2015 due to profanity and a sexually explicit scene.[2] Ultimately, it became the fourth-most challenged book in the United States between 2010 and 2019.[3] Schools in Kentucky, Tennessee, and several other states have attempted to place bans on the book. In 2005, Paramount Pictures received the rights to produce a film adaptation of Looking for Alaska; however, the film failed to reach production.[4] Looking for Alaska, a television miniseries, premiered as a Hulu Original on October 18, 2019.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (2020-09-09). "Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019". Banned & Challenged Books.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).