As a teenager, it’s difficult to find a place to fit into. Miles Halter, the main character of the novel Looking For Alaska by John Green is experiencing just that. He is a very quirky teenager that is fascinated by the last words of famous people. He has millions of them memorized. One of his favorite last words are those of François Rabelais “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” This novel takes you through Miles’s journey to finding his “Great Perhaps” at his new boarding school, Culver Creek, located in Birmingham, Alabama.

This new school could not have been more different to his old school. Once he got there, he saw his room was un-air conditioned “with cinder-block walls coated thick with layers of white paint…the room looked more like a hospital than the dorm room of my fantasies.” (6)

He also comes in contact with his new roommate and best friend on campus Chip, but everyone refers to him as “The Colonel” and his best friend Takumi. He is next introduced to their very good friend, Miss Alaska Young who is described by Miles as “the hottest girl in all of human history” (14) and falls for her right then and there. In this odd friend group, they’re one for nicknames. Minutes after meeting Alaska, she dubs Miles “Pudge” as a joke because Miles is a bean pole and could be easily snapped in half. This friend group, as well as everyone else on the campus, specializes in pranks. Pudge arrives while the group is in the middle of planning and executing a final prank. But unfortunately, their plans are put on hold when a tragedy occurs. The story does continue and goes into what happens “after” the tragedy.

Green brilliantly tells the tales of these four young people and their journey through school. It has been believed that this story is actually an autobiography on Green’s life. He attended a boarding school similar to the one illustrated in the novel and in many YouTube videos, he describes events and people that are very similar to those in the novel. This New York Times bestseller will keep you wanting more and hoping Pudge finds “the Great Perhaps”.