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Pudge's Turning Points In Looking For Alaska

589 Words3 Pages

In an attempt to find more in life, Miles Halter, decides to attend a boarding school in Alabama his junior year of high school. Despite being nervous about making friends, Miles is instantly taken in by his roommate who is nicknamed the Colonel. The Colonel then introduces Miles to a group of students that becomes his close friends and ironically nickname him Pudge even though he is very skinny. This group familiarizes Pudge to his new campus, as well as pranks, smoking, and drinking. Among Pudge’s new friends is Alaska Young, with who he is obsessed with. Through creating lots of mischief, Pudge becomes closer to his friends, including the fascinating Alaska. The turning point is when Alaska receives a call late one night and leaves campus with the help of Pudge and the Colonel. Everyone finds out the next morning that Alaska died in a car crash the night before. Consumed with guilt, the Colonel and Pudge …show more content…

This is so with Looking for Alaska. The novel is divided into two parts: Before and After. The first chapter in the Before section is “one hundred and thirty-six days before”. We see how the characters evolve and change before and after the big event, Alaska’s death. Something else to note is that each chapter does not start on a new page. The flow of the novel reminded me of a diary. The structure is nothing but unique, which I think was a big factor in it winning a Printz award. Along with this, another standard for a Printz award is “Controversy is not something to avoid. In fact, we want a book that readers will talk about.” With issues such as adolescent depression, loss, young love, and self discovery, how could teens help but talk about it? This strikes to the heart of adolescent life! There are also controversial aspects in this novel. For example, underage smoking, drinking, and watching porn to name a few. Looking for Alaska contains all of these

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