Looking for Alaska
by John Green · first published 2005
30% recommend70% neutral
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). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Gr
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2023–2025Thirteen reasons why
Jay Asher
0 recommend · 2 mentioned0 recommend · 2 mention0 recommend · 20 recommend
2023–2024A Court of Mist and Fury
Sarah J. Maas
0 recommend · 3 mentioned0 recommend · 3 mention0 recommend · 30 recommend
2023–2026This Book is Gay
Juno Dawson
0 recommend · 6 mentioned0 recommend · 6 mention0 recommend · 60 recommend
2021–2026Gender Queer
Maia Kobabe
Recommended by 1 · mentioned by 311 recommend · 31 mention1 recommend · 311 recommend
2015–2025The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie
0 recommend · 5 mentioned0 recommend · 5 mention0 recommend · 50 recommend
2012–2026The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 103 recommend · 10 mention3 recommend · 103 recommend
2008–2026The Color Purple
Alice Walker
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 155 recommend · 15 mention5 recommend · 155 recommend
2010–2025The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 179 recommend · 17 mention9 recommend · 179 recommend
1.The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 2.Looking for Alaska 3.Blindness 4.Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival 5.The Martian 6.Never Let Me Go
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…Make no mistake, schools make choices all the time. This decision align those choices to far more insane rules by..guess what...an activist government instead. A great example of this is John Green's Looking For Alaska. It has a sex scene that is objectively banned by this law. That very sex scene is an example of why sex should not be the primary goal of a relationship (it goes poorly) and is directly contrasted with…
on “Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools” ↗Depends on what you're into: romance: i would suggest "Looking for Alaska" by John Green or "Pierre et Luce" by Romain Rolland fantasy: The Way Of Kings by Brandon Sanderson or "Blackout" by Marc Elseberg life advice ig?: "The Algebra of Happiness" by Scott Galloway ...…
on “Ask HN: What are good books/blogs to read for a first time CTO?” ↗…At the end of the day, those who fight for "free speech" are really fighting to control which speech is free and which isn't. Author John Green said it best in a reaction regarding his first novel, Looking for Alaska being targeted for a ban[0]: > There's this surreality of the organization in question being called "Moms for Liberty" when what they're trying to do is restrict the liberty of other people's kids to…
on “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools” ↗…books of 2022 according to the ALA: - "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe - "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson - "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison - "Flamer" by Mike Curato - "Looking for Alaska" by John Green - "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky - "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison - "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie - "Out of Darkness"…
on “Leaked government document shows Spain wants to ban end-to-end encryption” ↗…J. Maas Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Beloved by Toni Morrison Looking for Alaska by John Green The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Crank by Ellen Hopkins Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie An…
on “Iowa using AI to automatically scan and ban books” ↗Books that describe sex are somewhat age restricted. Something like Looking for Alaska is rated 16+ by Common Sense Media and not in elementary or middle school libraries.
on “Apple's Problem with Bodies” ↗You should do that, and afterward, add some Funkos to accentuate it, especially for the #1 title on the list, Looking for Alaska, by John Green. His multi-talented brother Hank made this, BTW (the music, specifically, not the animation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItBDepGyfK0
on “The most banned books in U.S. schools” ↗The most targeted book in america is Looking For Alaska. You and I have a very different understanding of what "sexually explicit material" means if you think that this book is erotica. Remember that the parents are deciding for other parents what appears…
on “The most banned books in U.S. schools” ↗Are we talking about this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_for_Alaska#Author's_re... (I've not read it, of course, and don't know whether I'd consider it inappropriate for school libraries. However, it sounds like it was not intended as pornography and therefore isn't…
on “Banned Book Library in a Wi-Fi Smart Light Bulb” ↗