Summer Assignment: Entry Four

One reason I choose Looking for Alaska is because I was familiar with the author. As many of you may know John Green also wrote The Fault in Our Stars. I did not read that book but almost all of my friends have and they all loved it. I don't recall hearing a single bad thing about that book so I assumed John Green was a phenomenal writer. In my opinion I was correct. The way he described simple objects was incredible. Not only did his descriptions paint a picture but they seemed real. The emotions he evoked from the characters were so realistic the reader couldn't help to feel along with them. Also a boy from my church was telling me about his favorite book and it was Looking for Alaska. He told me how he loved it, even though John Greens writing style has a reputation of being a little more romantic this book surpassed the expectation of a soppy love story. There were so connections I had with this book. Almost all the characters are teenagers. Teenagers that go to school, have friends, have kids that are not friends, and have real life problems so relating to this book was easy, which I kept me reading. I would recommend this book to just about anyone. John Green perfectly balances comedy, mystery, romance, sadness, action, and excitement. There wasn't a single dull page in this book. I highly recommend it!

Summer Assignment: Entry Three

"I stood up and ran outside. I made it to a trash can outside the gym, five feet from the double doors, and heaved toward Gatorade bottles and half-eaten McDonald's. But nothing much came out. I just heaved, my stomach muscles tightening and my throat opening and a gasping, guttural blech, going through the motions of vomiting over and over again. In between gags and coughs, I sucked air in hard. Her mouth. Her dead, cold mouth. To no be continued." (Green 140). In this section Miles is in shocked about the news he just heard. This passage propels the book into it's second half. It is difficult to fully analyze this section without giving away one of the biggest secrets and excitements of the book. I chose this section because it is one of the many cliff hangers the author leaves you with, practically forcing you to turn the page. This is a book packed with action, mystery, comedy, and romance. I don't remember reading a part of this book feeling bored. John Green does an excellent job giving the characters personality. To me it really felt like I was there at Culver Creek experiencing the same things as Chip, Miles, Alaska, Lara, and Takumi.

Summer Assignment: Entry Two

In Looking for Alaska the character Alaska Young desired mostly to be happy and care free. Alaska tried to achieve this by getting wasted and pulling pranks. When drinking could not solve her problems Alaska took drastic actions which altered every character in the second half of the book. Her best friend Miles wanted to seek a "great perhaps' and make new memories and experiences. Chip's desire was to keep his girlfriend happy even they had a horrible relationship, keep Alaska safe, and pull pranks. a theme from my book is live what you have to the best. This is because most of the characters have gotten a rough life and situations in life. They spend most of their free time complaining about it and grieving instead of learning from it and moving on. Finally toward the end of the book Miles came to the realization that you can't control what you get in life. However you can control how you deal with it and how your let it shape you into what you can become.