Summer reading post 4

       I chose this book for my summer reading project because I had read other books by John Green and they were very good. His books always get me thinking about things he writes even after I put the book down. His books never seem to amaze me. I love his writing style because it is so unique. This book drew my attention with the book summary because it was bright and hopeful and then suddenly it took a turn to the darker side, without explanation. It was very intriguing. I could relate closely to Pudge at different points of the story, to be honest he was a very relate-able character so it was not that hard to find resemblance between his thought process and mine.  I can also relate how the main character would sometimes be prone to over think what someone said or what someone did. This book is very well known already in the young adults age area. The author, John Green is actually a very well known by young adults. This book would be read by young girls. Based on all of the attention that the book 'The Fault In Our Stars' , another book by John Green, got I wasn't surprised by all the press that this book got. I think this book would be a big hit with any age group.

Summer reading post 3

    "We walked across the dorm circle to the gym. I sported baggy jeans, a sweatshirt with no shirt underneath, and a bad case of bedhead. All the teachers were in the dorm circle knocking on doors, but I didn't see Dr. Hyde. I imagined him lying dead in his house, wondered who had found him, how they even knew he was missing before he failed to show up for class. "I don't see Dr. Hyde," I told the Colonel. "Poor bastard." The gym was half full by the time we arrived. A podium had been set up in the middle of the basketball court, close to the bleachers. I sat in the second row, with the Colonel directly in front of me. My thoughts were split between sadness for Dr. Hyde and excitement about Alaska, remembering the up-close sight of her mouth whispering, "To be continued?" And it did not occur to me—not even when Dr. Hyde shuffled into the gym, taking tiny, slow steps toward the Colonel and me. I tapped the Colonel on the shoulder and said, "Hyde's here," and the Colonel said, "Oh shit," and I said, "What?" and he said, "Where's Alaska?" and I said, "No," and he said, "Pudge, is she here or not?" and then we both stood up and scanned the faces in the gym. The Eagle walked up to the podium and said, "Is everyone here?" "No," I said to him. "Alaska isn't here." The Eagle looked down. "Is everyone else here?" "Alaska isn't here!" "Okay, Miles. Thank you." "We can't start without Alaska. " (page 70)

    Pudge and the colonel are found by the headmaster of the school and he tells them to go to the gym for an announcement. Alaska doesn't seem to be there.

summer reading post 2

     In the book I have chosen, 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green, the characters have inner conflicts that make it a bit harder to distinguish what they actually desire. The main character, Pudge, thinks a lot about 'the great perhaps' and doesn't go a day without thinking about it. In his mind one thing is clear to me, he wants Alaska. Alaska the girl who has so many rambling issues in her head, is perfect in Pudge's eyes. Alaska is hard to figure out. She has so many thoughts at once it's hard to follow her. Alaska wants to please everyone and to be herself without any regrets, she wants peace and chaos, she wants to explore and to stay in the same place. Alaska wants everything and nothing at all. From what I can tell the structure of the book is broken into two parts, before and after. Before is when Pudge finds friends, feels like he belongs, all of the generally nice things. After is when everything seems to fall apart. So put from the book, "After. Nothing is ever the same." That is from the back of the book where they try to simplify the entire book into a few sentences, and I think that was very well put. The theme I see starting to show is that as soon as something good happens, something bad comes after it.

summer reading post 1

          I have chosen the book 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green. So far this book has been very thought provoking which is a good sign, for me at least, when reading a good novel.  The main character for this book is Miles Halter, also known as 'Pudge' not because he has a few extra pounds, but because he is so skinny. The book begins with him telling his parents that he would like to go to a boarding school, and not for the usual obvious reasons to get away from something, but to get into something. Pudge's life was boring and uneventful. He wanted to change that so he had his parents enroll him in a boarding school so that he could hopefully start the adventure also known as life. He was in search of 'the great perhaps'. Culver Creek boarding school was where it would all begin. Pudge makes friends like Chip also known as 'The colonel' and Alaska. At first sight Pudge is mesmerized by Alaska. I have a feeling that later on in the story she will be the main event in Pudge's head. And what I really want to know is, does he find the great perhaps? This book reminds me of 'Paper towns' also by John Green because of the way the book starts. It begins centered on one boy who feels his life is boring and then, BOOM, this mysterious girl takes him on a whirlwind adventure that he couldn't forget if he wanted too. I feel like the ending won't be the ending that we want, just like how 'paper towns' ended.