Looking for Alaska Summary
- Miles quickly befriends his roommate, Chip "The Colonel" Martin. The Colonel gives Miles a nickname: Pudge.
- Pudge and The Colonel befriend Takumi, a talented Japanese rapper; Alaska, a troubled girl whose mother died; and Lara, who starts dating Pudge.
- One night, Pudge, The Colonel, and Alaska get drunk. Alaska dies in a car accident. ...
- The friends decide to pull a prank in Alaska's honor.
Is there a TV series based on the book Looking for Alaska?
For the television series based on the novel, see Looking for Alaska (miniseries). Looking for Alaska is John Green 's first novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile. Based on his time at Indian Springs School, Green wrote the novel as a result of his desire to create meaningful young adult fiction.
Why is Alaska's story out of order in the books?
She's just been cast that way by the boys in her life. Because the novel and the Hulu series are told from Miles "Pudge" Halter's very limited perspective — he's an adolescent boy who wants her to be his manic pixie dream girl — we get Alaska's story out of order. Here it is chronologically:
What inspired the author to write Looking for Alaska?
Looking for Alaska. His parents agreed and he spent the remainder of his time in high school at Indian Springs School forming valuable relationships with teachers that Green's says still exist today. It was Green's experience at boarding school that inspired him to write this novel. Many of the characters and events that take place in...
What happens at the end of Looking for Alaska book?
Alaska dies in a car crash midway through the book and Miles' heart is broken. Miles and Chip were with Alaska the night she died.
What happens in Looking for Alaska?
As Miles Halter (Pudge) goes looking for the "Great Perhaps" at a Culver Creek he finds love in an all-inspiring Alaska Young. When the unthinkable happens Chip (The Colonel) and Pudge must find out what really happened to Alaska the last night they saw her. Miles Halter goes to a boarding school to get a new start.
Was Alaska's death an accident?
Death. Alaska died in a fatal car accident. The Eagle explains to Miles that the road was blocked off as a truck had an accident, Alaska who was both intoxicated and upset drove straight into the cop car.
Does Chip get expelled Looking for Alaska?
No, Chip does not get expelled in Looking for Alaska. He is worried about being expelled after Alaska dies, since he helped her sneak past the Eagle after curfew. However, he and Miles maintain the fiction that they had no role in Alaska's late-night escape from the school's campus.
Who called Alaska before she died?
JakeBefore Alaska's car accident, she received a phone call that left her in a panic and rushing to drive away from campus. After some investigative work, Miles and Chip determine that the phone call was from Jake, Alaska's ex-boyfriend.
Who is Alaska's boyfriend in Looking for Alaska?
JakeJake is Alaska's long-distance boyfriend. He plays a minor role in the novel, and Miles rarely sees him. When Alaska dies in a drunk driving accident, Miles and the Colonel wonder whether she was driving to see Jake.
Did Alaska sleep with the eagle?
Answer and Explanation: No, the Eagle does not rape Alaska. The Eagle is the school's head administrator, and he looks after the students under his charge. He is surprisingly lenient towards Alaska after he catches her smoking, and Alaska jokes that it's because he loves her.
Does Alaska love Pudge?
The relationship between alaska and pudge was mostly one-sided. He obviously had a thing for her and found every single thing, even the imperfections, beautiful. She would always crack comments like “you're adorable” but I don't think she ever meant it in a romantic way.
Why is Alaska a rat in Looking for Alaska?
Alaska had ratted because the Eagle had discovered her with alcohol. She had agreed to rat to save herself from expulsion. She couldn't get a scholarship to another school, and without, she couldn't go to college to escape her family home.
Does Pudge sleep with Alaska?
The Colonel finds Alaska and Pudge sleeping together outside underneath the stars and forces them home with him. He's embarrassed by where he lives because it's in a trailer park, but it's clear that he loves and admires his mom so much because she's a self-made woman who takes care of everyone.
Why did the Eagle let Alaska go?
It all comes tumbling out in a big rush: The Colonel set the firecrackers to lure the Eagle out of his house the night before, and he let Alaska go because she swore she was okay to drive, and he just can't bear not being punished for this.
Is the book Looking for Alaska sad?
It just has a sad tone to it. Definitely a must read. It was depressing at first, but then I kind of got used to it and viewed it as a death mystery book. I was reading it in class when Alaska dies and started crying.
Did Pudge and Alaska sleep together?
The Colonel finds Alaska and Pudge sleeping together outside underneath the stars and forces them home with him. He's embarrassed by where he lives because it's in a trailer park, but it's clear that he loves and admires his mom so much because she's a self-made woman who takes care of everyone.
Does Alaska love Pudge?
The relationship between alaska and pudge was mostly one-sided. He obviously had a thing for her and found every single thing, even the imperfections, beautiful. She would always crack comments like “you're adorable” but I don't think she ever meant it in a romantic way.
What is the main conflict in Looking for Alaska?
Society: One conflict is the Colonel versus the weekday warriors. The Colonel is always complaining about the Weekday Warriors and how they are just a bunch of rich kids who don't really care about anything and just want to pass their classes at Culver Creek and have perfect hair.
Why did Alaska rat on her roommate?
Alaska snitched on her roommate and Paul in order to keep from being expelled. The dean caught her trying to sneak off campus, and he gave her an ultimatum. She could either pack her things and go home, or she could tell him everything she knew about the other students' misdemeanors.
Why is Alaska's story out of order?
Because the novel and the Hulu series are told from Miles "Pudge" Halter's very limited perspective — he's an adolescent boy who wants her to be his manic pixie dream girl — we get Alaska's story out of order. Here it is chronologically:
Why did Alaska wake up the Colonel and Miles?
Alaska woke up the Colonel and Miles and asked them to distract the dean of students so she could drive away from campus. On her way out, she also ran into Takumi. She didn't tell anyone where she was going, only that she "messed up," and none of her friends tried to stop her from driving so drunk.
How did Alaska get her name?
How Alaska Got Her Name. Because her hippie mother wanted to name her Harmony Springs and her conservative father wanted to name her Mary Frances, they decided to call her Mary until she was 7 years old. Then she got to pick her own name, which she did by looking at a globe.
Why did Jake give her white daisies?
Because her blood alcohol level was .24, the whole thing could have been an accident. The friends piece together the fact that she was taking the white daisies Jake had given her to put on her mother's grave, symbolic of the white flowers her mother used to put in her hair.
Does Alaska have a relationship with her father?
Alaska doesn't have a great relationship with her father, as evidenced by the fact that she avoids going home to visit him and will do anything to avoid being expelled from school — even snitching on her roommate Marya. Her one source of comfort outside of her school friends is Jake, a musician and student at Vanderbilt University. He seems like a very understanding boyfriend, as far as we know.
Is Alaska Young a dream girl?
Yes, there are many ways in which Alaska Young is a manic pixie dream girl. Even Looking for Alaska author John Green told me once that he wrote Paper Towns to correct some of the errors he believes he made in shaping the main female character of his first novel. But if you look closely at Alaska's actions, and what happens to her at the end ...
What is the theme of Looking for Alaska?
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.
Who wrote the book "Looking for Alaska"?
John Green, author of Looking for Alaska, in 2014. Looking for Alaska is based on John Green 's early life. Growing up, Green always loved writing, but when it came to his middle school experience, he classified life as a middle schooler as "pretty bleak".
Why was Looking for Alaska removed from the curriculum?
Two teachers at Depew High School near Buffalo, New York, used the book for eleventh grade instruction in 2008. Looking for Alaska was challenged by parents for its sexual content and moral disagreements with the novel. Despite the teachers providing an alternate book, parents still argued for it to be removed from curriculum due to its inappropriate content such as offensive language, sexually explicit content, including a scene described as "pornographic", and references to homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, and smoking. The book was ultimately kept in the curriculum by the school board after a unanimous school board vote with the stipulation that the teachers of the 11th grade class give the parents a decision to have their children read an alternate book. Looking for Alaska was defended by the school district because they felt it dealt with themes relevant to students of this age, such as death, drinking and driving, and peer pressure.
How did Alaska die?
She is described as living in a "reckless world." After receiving an unknown call, Alaska dies in a car accident , and the second half of the novel focuses on uncovering the mystery from the night she died. At the end of the book, it is not confirmed whether her death was an accident or suicide.
Why is looking for Alaska recommended?
Additionally, many educators and librarians recommend Looking for Alaska to their students because of the powerful themes it addresses. Don Gallo, English teacher and editor for the English Journal writes that Looking for Alaska is “the most sophisticated teen novel of the year.” As a result of these reviews, Looking for Alaska appears on many recommended reading lists.
How many halves are there in Looking for Alaska?
Looking for Alaska is divided into two halves named 'Before' and 'After' as in before and after Alaska's death, and are narrated by main character Miles Halter. Rather than the typical numerical system, each chapter is denoted through the number of days before Alaska's death or the number of days after.
What is the significance of Alaska's death in Looking for Alaska?
For the characters in Looking for Alaska, Alaska's death proved a life-altering moment, and Green wanted to reflect this importance by creating the structure of the novel around the axis of Alaska's death.
What happened to Alaska in Two Days Before?
"Two days before" it happens, Alaska reveals to the group that, when she was eight years old , she found her late mother dying of an aneurysm, went into shock, and never called for help. A drunken Alaska tells Pudge on "the last ...
What does Alaska tell Pudge on the last day?
A drunken Alaska tells Pudge on "the last day" that she blames herself for the loss of her mother. In spite of the fact that Alaska has a boyfriend and Pudge has a girlfriend, the two of them indulge in an intoxicated make out session — until Alaska receives a call. She returns, crying, and leaves again, this time driving away in her car.
Why does Takumi put new flowers on her grave?
Much the same as Pudge, Takumi blames himself for not stopping Alaska from driving that night. Takumi's note puts the final piece of Alaska's puzzle into place for Pudge, ...
How did Alaska die in Culver Creek?
The next morning, the Culver Creek student body learns that Alaska has died in an auto accident. While driving drunk on the highway leading to her mother's gravesite, Alaska crashed into a police vehicle at full speed and was killed on impact.
Who is the roommate in Looking for Alaska?
First published in 2005, Looking for Alaska centers on Miles "Pudge" Halter, a prep-school newcomer who has a special interest in famous last words. At Culver Creek Preparatory High School, Miles' roommate, Chip "The Colonel" Martin, nicknames him "Pudge" and brings him into a new circle of friends, ...
Does Alaska forgive Takumi?
Ever the free spirit, Alaska wouldn't want anyone to think that they could control her in the way that Pudge and Takumi wish they had that night. Pudge reasons that Alaska forgives him for letting her leave on the night of her death, and admits that he forgives her for leaving him behind.
What is the core of the book Looking for Alaska?
No matter what angle you look at it from, the core of John Green's novel Looking For Alaska is grief. The Hulu miniseries adaptation emotionally expands upon the source material but is still faithful to it, especially when it comes to the tragic fate of Alaska Young. In the YA novel and show, Alaska dies in a heart-wrenching car accident ...
How did Alaska die in the movie?
The next morning, the students learn that she died in a car crash — the steering wheel crushed her chest when she drove into a police car at the scene of a separate accident.
Why did the three steal the Eagle's breathalyzer?
The three later steal the Eagle's breathalyzer to re-enact the events of the night — thankfully never doing so because the Colonel passes out in his room. They eventually realize that Alaska left with plastic daisies.
Who wrote the book Looking for Alaska?
We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Looking for Alaska by John Green.
How many questions are there about looking for Alaska?
See all 159 questions about Looking for Alaska…
When was Looking for Alaska by John Green published?
Looking for Alaska is John Green's first novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile. Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet).
Why did Alaska's friends enable her behavior?
She used her past as an excuse for her destructive behavior. Alaska’s friends enabled Alaska’s behavior because they didn’t stand up to her. In fact, they had destructive behavior that needed to be addressed as well but since this book is called “Looking for Alaska”, I’m going to focus on Alaska.
Who is the main character in The Great Perhaps?
The main character was a cronic linnet, who got lost in his difficulties (mostly, not having a girlfriend, such a big problem you see) and searching The Great Perhaps, thing he forgot to do so easily so...
Who wrote the book "Looking for Alaska"?
Back in 2016, Looking for Alaska author John Green recorded a video all about the book banning controversy for the YouTube channel he and his brother share. In it, he talks about the importance of text vs. context in regards to *that scene*:
How many episodes of Looking for Alaska are there?
Oct. 18 2019, Updated 4:23 p.m. ET. Hulu’s Looking for Alaska has finally arrived! As you may or may not know, the eight-episode limited series is based on John Green’s first novel of the same name. The show follows Miles “Pudge” Halter (Charlie Plummer) as he enrolls in boarding school in order to seek his life purpose.
Why was Looking for Alaska banned?
More specifically, Looking for Alaska was challenged and banned because it includes a scene wherein Miles and his girlfriend-of-one-day Lara engage in oral sex. Article continues below advertisement.
Who plays Alaska Young in the movie?
While there, he finds a group of friends and falls in love with the mysterious Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth ). When tragedy strikes, Miles and his friends try to make sense of it all.
What is the most challenged book of 2015?
In fact, according to the American Library Association, Looking for Alaska was actually the No. 1 most challenged book of 2015. It also made appearances on the ALA’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books List in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Overview
Looking for Alaska is American author John Green's debut novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile. Based on his time at Indian Springs School, Green wrote the novel as a result of his desire to create meaningful young adult fiction. The characters and events of the plot are grounded in Green's life, while the story itself is fictional.
Background
Looking for Alaska is based on John Green's early life. Growing up, Green always loved writing, but when it came to his middle school experience, he classified life as a middle schooler as "pretty bleak". As a student, Green describes that he was "unbearable" to parents and teachers; however, he always worked hard to fit in with his peers. Green's situation did not improve after his transition to high s…
Plot
Miles Halter, a teenage boy obsessed with the last words of famous people, leaves his normal high school in Florida to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama for his junior year. Miles' reasoning for such a change is quoted by François Rabelais's last words: "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Miles' new roommate, Chip "The Colonel" Martin, nicknames Miles "Pudge" and introduces Pudge to his friends: hip-hop MC Takumi Hikohito and Alaska Young, an intelligent, be…
Style
Looking for Alaska is divided into two halves named 'Before' and 'After' as in before and after Alaska's death, and are narrated by main character Miles Halter. Rather than the typical numerical system, each chapter is denoted through the number of days before Alaska's death or the number of days after. The genesis of this structure resulted from John Green's influence of public reactions to the events on September 11, 2001. In an interview with Random House Publishing, G…
Characters
Miles Halter ("Pudge") Miles Halter is the novel's main character and narrator, who has an unusual passion in learning famous people's last words. He transfers to the boarding school Culver Creek in search of his own "Great Perhaps." He is nicknamed "Pudge" by his roommate because he is tall and skinny. Miles is attracted to Alaska Young, who mostly does not reciprocate his feelings. As seen through interactions with other characters, Miles can be categorized as independent and c…
Themes
After Alaska's death, Pudge and Colonel investigate the circumstances surrounding the traumatic event. While looking for answers, the boys are subconsciously dealing with their grief, and their obsession with finding answers transforms into a search for meaning. Pudge and Colonel want to find out the answers to certain questions surrounding Alaska's death, but in reality, they are enduring their own labyrinths of suffering, a concept central to the novel. When their theology te…
Reception
Looking for Alaska has received both positive reviews and attempts at censorship in multiple school districts. Positive reviews include comments on the relatable high school characters and situations as well as more complex ideas such as how topics like grief are handled. Overall, many reviewers agree that this is a coming-of-age story that is appealing to both older and younger readers. Reviews also highlight the unique way John Green wrote the novel as each chapter is di…
Adaptation
The film rights to the novel were acquired by Paramount Pictures in 2005. The screenplay was potentially going to be written and directed by Josh Schwartz (creator of The O.C.) but, due to a lack of interest by Paramount, the production had been shelved indefinitely. It had been reported that Paramount was putting the screenplay in review due to the success of the film adaptation of John Green's breakout novel, The Fault in Our Stars. On February 27, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced …