LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green

LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green

Bibliographic Data:

Green, J. (2005). Looking for alaska. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0525475060. P 221.

Summary:

High school student, Miles (nicknamed Pudge), leaves his parents and public school for the possibilities of Culver Creek.  With his new friends brings smoking, drinking and bold pranks until one night everything changes.

Analysis:

We are all born with the desire to have a purpose.  Whether we find it or not is up to each individual.  Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, Looking for Alaska (Green, 2009), is a tale of finding that purpose, or what Miles quotes from Francois Rabelais as a “Great Perhaps” (p. 5).  In this story you will not want to put down, author John Green utilizes strengths such as the theme, characters, and a worthwhile ending.  Slow-moving chapters and a lack of attention to self-destructing behaviors are identified as the weaknesses, neither of which should stop you from reading this book. 

The greatest strength of Green’s story is his use of themes and how they relate to readers.  Primary themes portrayed in the story are a search for purpose, opportunity, the choice to abide or rebel, and friendship. Readers can identify to wanting a purpose in what they do every day.  There is also great envy in Pudge’s ability to seek out unknown opportunities, purpose, and adventure.  In the story, Pudge and his friends are intellectual and value their education and grades.  This is reflected in their time spent studying and reading.  Working against that is their pull to rebel and participate in activities that are against the rules such as drinking, smoking, skipping class, and being out after curfew.  Today’s teenagers will relate to this pull of right and wrong.

Pudge’s friends include The Colonel, Alaska, Takumi, and later Lara.  It’s these friendships that will be tested in the end.  These five friends make up the main characters.  They are all high school juniors and offer the reader the viewpoint from a teenager.  They also make up different social and racial classes.  For example, The Colonel is from a single-mother household, is poor and attends on scholarship.  Pudge is from a middle-class, two-parent home and follows in his father’s footsteps.  Takumi is Japanese and Lara is Romanian.  Alaska is the troubled one, whose mother is dead and she is haunted by childhood tragedy.   Another aspect about the characters is their freedom.  Being at boarding school, there are no parents and though they answer to The Eagle, each of them are given great responsibility.  Pudge and his friends also deal with strong emotions such as grief, sadness, depression, wonder, and guilt. 

The final strength is the ending.  After suffering the death of Alaska, Pudge and The Colonel must tackle the strong emotions mentioned while also trying to find a way to cope.  For a time, the reader wonders how they can overcome such a situation.  As they investigate the tragic death, suicide lingers as an option and they will never know the truth.  And though depression, anger, guilt, and suicide may have claimed a friend, Pudge finds his strength to move on in forgiveness, avoiding self-destruction, and looking towards the beautiful.

If this book has any weaknesses, they would be the movement and the vague mention of self-destruction.  First of all, the story is set at a steady pace but does slow down to build the character’s relationships.  This issue did not bother me as I still could not put it down, but for young adults, this might be a turn off.  Secondly, the second half of the book deals with sudden death and possible suicide.  Up to this point, Alaska participates in self-destructing activities such as dangerous drinking, driving while having drunk, smoking constantly, and promiscuity.  She also has mood swings, anger issues, and extreme guilt.  We never know if Alaska is depressed but her character is definitely suffering and not getting any help for it.  The book never addresses this and even after her death, no one makes any mention of her need for help.   Though clinical help of some kind can help other young people in this situation, the lack of this being mentioned in the book does not make it any less enjoyable. 

Reference List

Nilsen, A. P. & Donelson, K.L. (2009). Literature for today’s young adults (8^th ed.). Boston: 
       Pearson.

GO ASK ALICE by Anonymous

Bibliographic Data:

Anonymous. (1971). Go ask alice. New York: Avon. 0380005239. P 189.

Summary:

Go Ask Alice is the edited diary of a young girl with a good life who gets mixed up in drugs.  Though she strives to make things better, she will take you through situations sure to make you cringe.

Analysis:

Covering topics such as drugs, sex, and runaways, Go Ask Alice has been challenged just as much as it has been praised since it was published in 1971.  So the question is what is it about this book that has made it a classic?  Though there is no set answer, certain distinctions may tell why.  The time period, author, action, authenticity, and curiosity are strengths within this work.  The narrator’s destructive behavior may be its downfall.

Set in the late 1960s, a time period of the fear of illegal drug use, pushers, and LSD (Robison, 2002), teenagers of the ‘70s across the country were having their eyes opened to the world of drugs.  Readers were able to quench their curiosity by reading the diary.  The author, or narrator, of the diary is a fifteen-year-old girl living in an educated, suburbia-like family that all readers can understand and envision.  She sheds light on drugs including LSD but also marijuana, acid, heroin, meth and terms like dope, smack, bread, barbs, and Dexies. 

The story moves quickly and the reader holds on as the narrator drowns in her own drug addiction, gets involved in distressing situations, and partakes in a tug-o-war with her own self to finally get drug free.  The fast-moving action makes it easy to read and stay involved.  Another strength of this book is its authenticity.  The front cover reads, “A Real Diary” and the preface reads, “an actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user.” Readers believe the diary is real and that the writer went through every emotion and every situation written.  This authentic portrayal allows the reader to feel the story and to know it could happen to them since it happened to someone else.

This leads right in to the final strength of this book.  Readers could also relate to the feelings and emotions of the young girl.  She was the new girl at school, she wanted the attention of boys, and she appreciated the escape that drugs gave her from reality.  Even 40 years later, teens can still relate to her as many suffer through difficult home situations and other tragedies, looking for an escape. 

I mentioned this book has its share of controversy.  According to the American Library Association’s list of most frequently challenged books (2011), even in 2003, over 30 years after the book’s publication, it was still number six.  Nilsen and Donelson (2009) states that young adult books of value are positive and show growth in the main character, which is where I believe this book exposes a weakness (p. 34).  Though deeply personal, this story is heartbreaking, scary, sad, lonely, and at times downright frightening.  And through it all, the reader expects the character to finally grasp the straight and narrow she longs for, only to find death from drugs awaiting at the end.  The end is a letdown; a depressed, sagging feeling left to devour the hopes we all have that there really are good people and second chances. 

So the issue facing readers, parents, and librarians today is the decision to read this book or censor.  Parents and readers must decide for themselves but the story is thought-provoking.  Even in my 20s, it scared me for myself and my daughter.  It might just be the book that a young adult needs to read in order to look for a safer escape from reality than drugs. 

Reference List

American Library Association. (2011). Frequently challenged books of the 21^st century. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged#2011

Nilsen, A. P. & Donelson, K.L. (2009). Literature for today’s young adults (8^th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Robison, Jennifer. (2002). Decades of drug use: Data from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/6331/decades-drug-use-data-from-60s-70s.aspx

In my failed attempts to post a review to a new page, please note that the previous review for THE OUTSIDERS as well as all upcoming posts are for my coursework through TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY.  The course is Advanced Literature for Young Adults and will be completed in August 2012.

The OUTSIDERS by S. E. Hinton

Bibliographic Data:

Hinton, S.E. (1967). The outsiders. New York: Penguin Putnam. 014038572X. 180 p.

 
Summary:

For this group of “greasers” who think of each other as family, getting into fights with the Socs across town is unavoidable.  After a fun night goes bad, it gets even worse when someone ends up dead.  The faithful group of boys will have to stick together to make it through.

Analysis:

Published in 1967 and considered by many to be one of the original “players” in the beginning of the Young Adult book category, The Outsiders by S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton, remains a favorite read even 45 years later (Nilsen & Donelson, 2009).  Readers across different age groups enjoy the book because of its fast pace, viewpoint, protagonist spirit, and relatability.

The story does an incredible job at identifying and personalizing each character, the setting, and the primary issue without slowing down the story.  By page six, Hinton (1967) has already grabbed the reader’s attention; the protagonist named Ponyboy has already been in the first fight of the story.  She has also managed to thoughtfully describe the main characters, “It drives my brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, ‘cause I’m supposed to be smart…” and “Johnny was scared of his own shadow after that” (p. 4). The book continues to keep the reader on edge as fights, twists, and turns happen without delay.  Written in first person, the viewpoint of The Outsiders comes directly from Ponyboy as he tells the reader his account of the events that happened. 

Ponyboy exhibits a spirit that is different from the rest of his gang and is one that readers will admire.  With his parents dying and his oldest brother working long hours, Ponyboy is left to make choices and take situations on his own.  He gets plenty of help from his two brothers and fellow greasers from the gang but Ponyboy is different.  He is smart, a bookworm, dislikes fighting, and is sensitive to others.  These qualities fuel the story and in the end, he’ll get the credit.    

All of these things and more make Ponyboy and the story relatable to young readers. Ponyboy, barely a teenager himself, is surrounded by other teens throughout the book.  The plot tackles the issue of being an outsider; a poor, dirty greaser versus the rich and lucky socialite across town, an issue all young readers can identify.  The plot also highlights cultural differences like smoking at a young age, clothing differences, and even hair! “But those two girls weren’t our kind. They were tuff-looking girls – dressed sharp and really good-looking” (p. 21).  And if readers haven’t identified with these characteristics, the emotions dealt with in the book are important to this age group.  The greasers are bullied, threatened and looked down upon.  Ponyboy deals with losing his parents, dealing with a difficult oldest brother, loving his other brother, and avoiding inappropriate situations without ruining important relationships.  When the events of his life take another bad turn, Ponyboy must anxiously face sticking with his buddy and facing failure, defeat, and disappointment. 

Despite the strengths in this book, The Outsiders is not without controversy.  According to Diane Kelly for School Library Journal (2012), “some schools and libraries have banned The Outsiders for the portrayal of gang violence, underage smoking and drinking, as well as strong language/ slang and family dysfunction.”  These topics are the very things that make this story relatable but one could argue that the characters are not positive role models and that finally doing his homework after an evening brawl is not a worthwhile accomplishment.  Readers will have to decide for themselves, but for most of us, the themes of loyalty and trust win out!

Reference List

Hinton, S.E. (1967). The outsiders. New York: Penguin Putnam.

Kelly, D. (2012, April 15). Top teen titles #2 [Review of the book The Outsiders]. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/practicallyparadise/2012/04/15/top-teen-titles-2/

Nilsen, A. P. & Donelson, K.L. (2009). Literature for today’s young adults (8^th ed.). Boston:    
     Pearson.