Looking for Alaska is John Green's first novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile. It won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association. During the week of July 29, 2012, Looking for Alaska broke into the New York Times best seller list at number ten in Children's Paperback, 385 weeks after it was released.
Synopsis
Miles Halter leaves his home in Florida to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama for his junior year. He uses François Rabelais’s last words—"I go to seek a Great Perhaps"—as his argument for choosing boarding school at such a late age. Miles is fond of reading biographies, and particularly of memorizing the last words of famous people.
Soon after arriving at Culver Creek, Miles meets his roommate, Chip "The Colonel" Martin. The Colonel nicknames Miles "Pudge", due to Miles's slender physical appearance. He then introduces Pudge to his friends Takumi Hikohito and Alaska Young. Takumi is a gifted emcee/hip-hop enthusiast, and Alaska Young is a beautiful, but emotionally unstable, girl.
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They set off a series of firecrackers near Mr. Starnes' house, which causes him to leave the building to investigate the noise. Then, Alaska and the Colonel sneak inside and use Mr. Starnes' computer to send out fake progress reports to the Warriors’ parents. Finally, Lara puts blue hair dye in the Warrior's shampoo and hair gel. The gang celebrates their victory by drinking and partying at the old barn by the school. While inebriated, Alaska tells her friends about her mother's death from an aneurysm when she was eight years old. She admits that she still feels guilty for not calling 911, even though she did not understand what was happening at the time. Pudge figures that her mother's death made Alaska impulsive and rash. He concludes that the labyrinth was a person's suffering and that humans must try to find their way