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Alaska Young is the titular character in John Green's debut novel, Looking for Alaska. She is not the narrator of the story, but instead serves as a friend to the other characters, most noteably the main protagonist, Miles "Pudge" Halter. Pudge becomes fascinated with her mysteriousness, and eventually falls in love with her. Her death is the turning point of the novel. According to Green, her name was inspired by The Velvet Underground song "Stephanie Says".

Appearance and Personality
Alaska is described by Pudge as petite but curvy. She has emerald green eyes, a ski-slope nose and mahogany hair that is the "same color of her coffin". Green purposely focuses less on Alaska's physical descriptions in order to "indicate how incompletely Pudge sees her".

Alaska is spontaneous and a prankster. Around Culver Creek, she is "famous for pranking" and is often the mastermind behind Culver Creek's legendary pranks, including putting a Volkswagen Beetle in the school's library. Alaska loves to read; her room is full of books though she's "only read a third of 'em". Most of the time she's silly, energetic and fun, but she can be moody and mean. She describes herself as "unpredictable" to Pudge, and her mood fluxuates between being wild and fun and being a "crazy, sullen bitch". She smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol, loves sex and drives too fast. Her self-destructive behavior is due to the intense guilt she carries for the death of her mother. She sees herself as a "deeply unhappy person". She declares that Edna St. Vincent Millay is her hero and she also drives a tiny blue two-door car that she named Blue Citrus.

Alaska is a giant enigma to everyone, including her friends. When Pudge mentions that he will never "get" her, she tells him that he'll never understand her, "that's the whole point". She knows that everybody has secrets, and she fully comprehends that people are more complicated than everyone realizes. Not only does Green makes sure to point out that nobody knows Alaska, but she also points it out herself. They all see her through different eyes and know her in different ways. She is never the same person, which adds to her overall mystique.

Personal Life
Alaska is the daughter of a mother that she describes as a hippie and a "Republican type" dad. When she was born, her parents could not decide on a name and agreed to let her decide. Her present on her seventh birthday was picking her name. She chose Alaska because she wanted to be big and as far away from Vine Station, her hometown, as she could get. Alaska does not enjoy going back to Vine Station and only goes home when Jake is with her because she's scared of ghosts and "home is full of them".

One night, Alaska and her friends play a game of Best Day/Worst Day. It's during this game that her mother's death is revealed. She says that her Best Day was January 9, 1997 when she was eight years old. Her mom accompanied her on a class trip to the zoo. Alaska liked the bears and her mom liked the monkeys. Her Worst Day was the day after the zoo, a Friday afternoon. While she was doing her homework, Alaska heard a scream. Her mom was laying on the floor, jerking around and holding her head. Alaska freaked out but did not call 911; she just screamed and cried until her mom stopped shaking. Alaska thought that her mom just fell asleep, but when her dad got home later, he started screaming at her and tried administering CPR, but her mom was already dead. Both Alaska and her dad hold it against her for not dialing 911 and her father blames her for her mother's death.

During her time at Culver Creek, she breaks a lot of rules. One night, as she's sneaking out to go visit Jake with a bottle of wine, the principle catches her. In exchange for not getting punished, Alaska rats her roommate out for currently having drunken sex in her room. Throughout Pudge's first semester, Alaska and her friends get pranked for being "rats" though nobody except Alaska and her friends know that she is the traitor.

She tells Pudge that she wants to teach disabled children after college.

Relationships
Throughout the entire novel, Alaska is involved in a relationship with her boyfriend, Jake. He doesn't attend Culver Creek, but often comes to visit Alaska at school. However, Pudge is deeply in love with her, and they often flirt throughout the novel. Though Alaska can be flirtatious, she never outright cheats on her boyfriend until her last night alive. On the night of her death, Alaska dares Pudge to hook up with her during a game of Truth or Dare? and he accepts. They "make-out" until she falls asleep. The two never have sex. The Colonel is her best friend at Culver Creek, and it is also mentioned that she and Takumi are close.

Death
Looking for Alaska is broken into two parts: Before and After. Alaska's death serves as the turning point of the novel, and is the event that subsequently divides the book in two. It is also a turning point in the sense that it helps Pudge come to terms with his life and the concept of death and grieving. Through Alaska's death, he learns to live his life. Her passing is what helps Pudge escape the labyrinth of his life.

On the night of her death, Alaska receives a phone call. She leaves to answer it while Pudge and the Colonel are sleeping. When she returns, she is hysterical, screaming "I have to get out of here!". She begs them to distract the Eagle, the principal of Culver Creek, so she can leave campus. They agree even though she's upset and drunk, and let her drive away. The next day (and the start of the After section), it is revealed that she died in a car accident. After her funeral, Pudge and the rest of his friends discover that the reason she was so upset that night is because it was the anniversary of her mom's death.

A lot of controversy surrounds her death. It is explained that she dies in the car wreck, but due to her constant talk of "escaping the labyrinth" and her self-desctructive nature, it is unknown if it was a terrible accident or a suicide. Many believe that it was a suicide attempt, due to her grief of forgetting her mom's death. Pudge even believes this for a while, until he gives up his search knowing that he would never know the answer. Green purposely leaves her death ambiguous. He states that he "knew from the moment I started the book that we would never be inside Blue Citrus with Alaska on that night. And I can’t know the answer to your question, because I can’t get inside that car with her, either."