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Looking for Alaska
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Plot Summary of Looking for Alaska
"Miles Halter, a sixteen-year-old with a fascination for last words, begins his scholastic adventure at Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama with an introduction to his roommate Chip "Colonel" Martin, a trailer-bred genius. Chip nicknames the skinny Miles "Pudge" and introduces him to Alaska Young, a beautiful, literate and intellectually gifted teenager with a head full of elaborate pranks. Under the tutelage of his new (and real) friends, Miles learns to drink, smoke, escape punishment, and understand people. A few days following a major, adrenaline-pumping prank, Alaska drives insanely drunk, crashes her car and dies instantly.

Miles and Chip, both grieving for their lost friend, wondering if she committed suicide or was killed accidentally, search for evidence of the reasons behind her death. They also feel guilty because they were the last people to see her alive and did not stop her from driving drunk. From his experiences with this loss, Miles learns valuable lessons about loyalty, friendship, and life.

The novel is divided into two sections: "before" and "after". Miles' school year is comprised of exactly 136 days before and after Alaska's death. "

Samantha S., Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Looking for Alaska
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Coping with loss of loved one(s) Yes
Loss of... - good friends
Age group of kid(s) in story: - high school
Parents/lack of parents problem? - boarding school! (wack wack!)
Druggie/Wino problems? - alcohol

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 (a good amount)
United States Yes
The US: - Deep South
Small town? Yes

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book? Yes
Lot of foul language? Yes
Unusual Style: - a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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John Green Resident Scholar Profiles

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