Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska by John Green

First drink. First prank. First friend. First love.

Last words. 
 
Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called “The Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. 
 
Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A modern classic, this stunning debut marked #1 bestselling author John Green’s arrival as a groundbreaking new voice in contemporary fiction.

This was our latest monthly book club pick, selected by my friend Sara.

I am SO glad she loves YA books as much as I do because I was in need of indulging in one! It’s been a hot minute.

The book starts by beginning a countdown….a number of days “Before”.

We don’t know before WHAT until about 3/4 of the book is complete…and the whole time I was trying to figure out what it could be.

Don’t we all have moments like that in our teen years?

When we can distinctly remember a BIG core memory type of event and it’s like we can point to a specific moment and say “Yep. Everything was different after that.”

Maybe in a good way.

Maybe in a horrible way.

But definitely, markedly DIFFERENT.

Honestly, we have moments like that in our entire LIVES, not just our teen years.

But everything feels SO MUCH BIGGER when you are that age, doesn’t it?

Your feelings are bigger, the world seems bigger…it all is SO VERY MUCH.

I adore reading coming of age stories, which I know I have said before is one of the reasons I love reading YA books so much.

They hold a sense of nostalgia for a bittersweet time in my life…and also because my firstborn kiddo is currently LIVING those years himself right now and I am a witness to it all again.

Which is wonderful…and at the same time equally horrifying.😱

I was giggling and reminiscing AND cringing about my teenage self while reading about Miles and his friends and all they were experiencing together–the uncomfortable yet exhilarating moments of teenage life like getting drunk on cheap liquor, late night shenanigans with close friends, sneaking cigarettes, and first sexual experiences.

And then I realized my own KID is probably experiencing some of these things currently–or will soon–and I had an internal freak out…it’s all funny memories until the moment it hits you that your kid could do the SAME DUMB SHIT you did at their age…GAAHHHH 🤦‍♀️

When the big “before” event finally DOES happen in the book, which I won’t reveal a thing about, my stomach just dropped.

Ohhhh it’s a BIG event, yall. 💔

When enormous tragedy and trauma hit your life–ESPECIALLY as a child or young adult–that is EXACTLY how you remember things.

The before.

And the after.

It’s like a gigantic split, into two very distinct parts that are clearly marked…almost like BC and AD.

I know everyone can think of a time in their life–or multiple times–where this happened.

This was a story just FULL of feelings, yall.

This story pulls at your heart for a million different reasons….for friendship, for loneliness, for difficulties, for memories, for joy.

It is a tale about learning….about the world, about others, about yourself.

It is a tale of turning that corner from childhood into the very start of adulthood…and how much one can hurt and struggle yet also heal and grow.

It’s about finding people, really KNOWING people…and starting to really know YOURSELF.

This is one that lingers awhile after you complete that last page.

It was a truly great book in my opinion.

The author is a MASTER wordsmith and the way he writes completely encapsulates teen thoughts and emotions.

John Green will be on my list to find more works by, that is for sure.

One of the reasons Sara picked this for us to read this month is that it is a banned book, which we are trying to read more of.

I looked up WHY it was banned…the reasoning was an “explicit oral sex scene.”

While it WAS pretty descriptive, I think it was QUITE realistic, even explaining weird emotions and uncomfortable interactions that can (and usually do) happen after teens have moments like that.

Would I let my 16 year old read this book?

Probably…because it really does address some very important teen and life things….and makes you think pretty critically about a lot of things too…

But I don’t think I’d want to chat about his thoughts on ALL of it. (and he DEFINITELY wouldn’t want to tell me them, I am CERTAIN 😆)

Looking forward to discussing this one with the group later this week.

*I do want yall to know that this book DOES address depression, suicidal thoughts and alcohol use so if any of that is triggering for you, this may not be a pick you want to read.*