Looking for Alaska - by John Green

About the Book

In a stunning debut novel, Miles "Pudge" Halter befriends some fellow boarding school students whose lives are everything but boring. Pudge falls in love with Alaska, the razor-sharp and self-destructive nucleus. But when tragedy strikes, Pudge discovers the value of loving unconditionally.

Book Synopsis

The award-winning, genre-defining debut from John Green, the #1 international bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down and The Fault in Our Stars

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award - A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist - A New York Times Bestseller - A USA Today Bestseller - NPR's Top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels - TIME magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time - A PBS Great American Read Selection - Millions of copies sold!

First drink. First prank. First friend. First love.

Last words.

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words--and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called "The Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A modern classic, this stunning debut marked #1 bestselling author John Green's arrival as a groundbreaking new voice in contemporary fiction.

Review Quotes

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
A New York Times Bestseller - A USA Today Bestseller
NPR's Top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels
TIME magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time
A PBS Great American Read Selection

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Top 10 - An ALA Quick Pick - A Booklist Editors' Choice selection - A Kirkus Best Book of the Year - An SLJ Best Book of the Year - A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best - A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

"What sets this novel apart is the brilliant, insightful, suffering but enduring voice of Miles Halter." --Chicago Tribune

"Looking For Alaska is a showcase to the raw talent John Green has, the kind of talent that can make you close the crisp last page of a novel and come out as a different person....

A gem of modern literature." --Guardian

★ "What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice." --Kirkus

★ "Alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor." --SLJ

"Funny, sad, inspiring, and always compelling." --Bookpage

"The spirit of Holden Caulfield lives on." --Kliatt

"Stunning conclusion . . . one worthy of a book this good." --Philadelphia Inquirer

About the Author

John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down. His many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers and co-created the online educational series CrashCourse. You can join the millions who follow him on Twitter @johngreen and Instagram @johngreenwritesbooks or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com. John lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana.