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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 and introduces Pudge to his friends Takumi Hikohito, a gifted MC/hip-hop enthusiast, and Alaska Young, a beautiful but emotionally unstable girl. After hearing Pudge's obsessions with famous last words, Alaska informs him of Simón Bolívar's final words: "Damn it. How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!" Miles asks her what the labyrinth is and the two make a deal: if Pudge figures out what the labyrinth is, Alaska will arrange sex for him. On his first night at Culver Creek, Pudge is kidnapped and thrown into a nearby lake by the Weekday Warriors, a group of rich Birmingham-area students of Culver Creek. The Colonel, Alaska, and Takumi explain the Weekday Warriors hate them because they blame The Colonel and his friends for the expulsion of their friend Paul. However, Takumi insists that they are innocent as their friend Marya was also expelled with Paul. Later, Alaska admits that she told on Marya and Paul to the dean of the school, Mr. Starnes, to save herself from being punished. Alaska sets Pudge up with a Romanian classmate, Lara. Unfortunately, Pudge and Lara have a disastrous date, which ends with Pudge having a mild concussion and throwing up on Lara's pants. Alaska and Pudge grow closer and he begins to fall in love with her, although she insists on keeping their relationship platonic. The Colonel and Alaska decide to pull a series a pranks in a row to intimidate the Warriors. They set off a series of fire crackers 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 change the Warrior's grades. 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 out. When they return to school, the Colonel and Alaska celebrate their successful pranks by drinking every night of the next week. On the last night of these 'celebrations', Alaska and Pudge kiss and are about to have sex. However, she is too sleepy to continue and asks to leave it "to be continued". Pudge agrees and they fall asleep together. In the middle of the night, Alaska receives a phone call which causes her to go into hysterics. She insists that she has to leave and Pudge and The Colonel agree to help her leave the school premises by distracting the campus with another set of fireworks. A still drunk Alaska drives away and gets into a car accident, which kills her instantly. In the morning, Mr. Starnes holds an assembly to inform the students of Alaska's death. The Colonel and Pudge are devastated and blame themselves for her death. However, they learn that Alaska might have deliberately crashed her car as a suicide attempt. The Colonel becomes angry and insists on questioning Alaska's boyfriend Jake but Pudge refuses, clinging to the hope that Alaska did love him. They argue and The Colonel accuses Pudge of only feeling they contributed to her death by letting her leave and drive off campus. They find out the only way it could have happened was if she tried to squeeze through the truck and a police cruiser or if she did it on purpose, committing suicide. This causes them to wonder if they really are to blame or not. If she did commit suicide, then the Colonel believes she was selfish in making them help her. The Colonel insists on questioning Jake, her boyfriend, but Pudge refuses, fearing that he might learn that Alaska never loved him. They argue and the Colonel accuses Pudge of only loving an Alaska that Pudge made up in his head, not who Alaska really was. Pudge realizes that he did only love an idealized version of Alaska and the two make up. As a way of celebrating Alaska's life, Pudge and his friend team up with the Weekday Warriors to hire a male stripper to speak at Culver's Speaker Day. The whole school finds it hilarious and even Mr. Starnes does not punish them. Pudge finds Alaska's copy of "The General in His Labyrinth" with the labyrinth quote underlined and notices the words "straight and fast" written in the margins. He remembers Alaska died on the morning after the anniversary of her mother's death and concludes that Alaska felt guilty for not visiting her mother's grave. In her rush, she might have been trying to reach the cemetery or might have committed suicide out of guilt. On the last day of school Takumi confesses in a note that he was the last person to see Alaska.

Characters Miles Halter The novel's protagonist, who has an unusual interest in learning famous people's last words. He goes to the boarding school Culver Creek in search of his own "Great Perhaps". Tall and skinny, his friends at Culver ironically nickname him "Pudge". He is sexually and emotionally attracted to Alaska Young, who for most of the novel has a mixed relationship, mostly not returning his feelings. He is frequently compared to Holden Caulfield of J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye. Alaska Young The wild, moody, unpredictable, beautiful and enigmatic girl who captures Miles' attention and heart. She acts as a confidante to her friends, frequently assisting them in personal matters, as well as dealing in cigarettes and alcohol. Chip Martin Five feet tall but "well-built like a scale model of Adonis", he is Alaska's best friend and Miles' roommate. His nickname, the Colonel, comes from his being the strategic mastermind behind the schemes that Alaska concocts. Coming from a poor background, he is obsessed with loyalty and honor, especially towards his beloved mother Dolores who lives in a trailer. Takumi Hikohito A surprisingly gifted MC/hip-hop enthusiast, and friend of Alaska and Chip, who often feels left out of Miles', Chip's, and Alaska's plans. Lara Buterskaya A Romanian immigrant. She is Alaska's friend and eventually becomes Miles' ex-girlfriend. She had to grow up quickly because she had to be her parents’ voice since she knew English and they did not. Mr. Starnes The stern Dean of Students at Culver Creek. He is nicknamed "The Eagle" by all the students of the campus. He is pranked by Miles, Chip, Alaska and Takumi multiple times throughout the novel. Jake Alaska's boyfriend, who lives too far away for Alaska's liking. She tells Miles that it is unfair that her boyfriend lives so far away, when there is a good looking boy (Miles) lying next to her.

Themes Loyalty/Trust: Throughout the entire book, loyalty and trust are constantly brought up. It is seen right away in the beginning of the book when Miles was taken from his room, tied up, and left to almost drown. This all occurred because the Weekday Warriors thought that the Colonel ratted out Marya and Paul. Even though not all of the characters are friends, they all believe in having each other’s backs and being loyal to one another. When the Colonel and Takumi found out that Alaska was the one who ratted out Marya and Paul, they aren’t sure if they can still trust Alaska. In the beginning, Alaska does not act on her feelings for Miles out of loyalty to her boyfriend, Jake. When Alaska starts to make a move on Miles towards the end of the book, he feels bad about betraying Lara and letting Alaska betray Jake. Unknown: Death: Death is very prominent in this novel. Miles is obsessed with learning about people’s last words. When Miles spoke with the officer that was at the scene of Alaska’s death, he wanted to know what her last words were. There are also discussions about what happens after death and how different religions look for comfort in life after death.

Background Green attended Indian Springs School, a boarding and day school outside of Birmingham, Alabama. During the time he was a student there, a student died under circumstances similar to the character of Alaska.[3][4] According to John Green himself at a book talk in Rivermont Collegiate on October 19, 2006, he got the idea of Takumi's "fox hat" from a Filipino friend who wore a similar hat while playing pranks at Indian Springs School. From the same book talk, Green also stated that the "possessed" swan in Culver Creek came from his student life at Indian Springs School as well, where there was also a swan of similar nature on the campus. The two pranks that occur in the book are similar to pranks that Green pulled at his high school.[5] Green has also stated, while giving a talk at Indian Springs, that several of Culver Creek's teachers are direct caricatures of multiple faculty members at Indian Springs. Controversy The book has been challenged for content dealing with sexually explicit situations.[6] Two teachers at Depew High Schoolnear Buffalo, New York, used the book for eleventh grade instruction. A letter was sent to parents advising them that the book contained controversial content. An alternate reading selection was available for those opting out, and a small percentage of parents chose this option. Nevertheless, the book was challenged on the grounds that it is "pornographic" and "disgusting". One parent even went as far as refusing to read the book himself, reportedly saying that "One does not need to have cancer to diagnose cancer". The book was ultimately kept in the curriculum by the school board after a unanimous school board vote. Green defended his book on his blog.[7] In March 2012, The Knoxville Journal in Knoxville, Tennessee, reported that a parent of a 15-year-old Karns High School student objected to the book's placement on the Honors and Advanced Placement classes' required reading lists for Knox County High Schools on the grounds that its sex scene and its use of profanityrendered it pornography.[8] The main characters in the story are teenagers who also drink, smoke and use explicit language.[9] Green has publicly defended his work.[10] "Some people say, 'You wrote a dirty, dirty book.' But there are very old-fashioned values and even a lot of religion in it," Green said. "There are some adults who think that the only kind of ethics that matter are sexual ethics. So they miss everything else that is going on in the book."[11] Green also said, "The book has never been marketed to 12-year-olds. Never. It is packaged like an adult book; it doesn't even say it's published by a kids' book imprint on the cover, and it's never shelved in the children's section of bookstores."[12] Cover design In August 2012, Green revealed details regarding the cover design of Looking for Alaska. Green acknowledged that the extinguished candle on the cover leads to "an improbable amount of smoke", and explained that the initial cover design did not feature the candle. Green said that certain book chains were uncomfortable with displaying or selling a book with a cover that featured cigarette smoke, so the candle was added beneath the smoke.[13] In John Green's box set, released on October 25, 2012, the candle has been removed from the cover. Further paperback releases of the book also have the candle removed. Film 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.),[14] but due to a lack of interest by Paramount, the production had been shelved indefinitely.[15] It has been reported that Paramount is putting the screenplay in review due to the success of the film adaptation of Green's breakout novel, The Fault in Our Stars. On February 27, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, screenwriters for the The Fault in Our Stars adaptation, would once again be writing the screenplay for the film.[16]