Looking for Alaska

The award-winning, genre-defining debut from John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed 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.

Newly updated edition includes a brand-new Readers' Guide featuring a Q&A with author John Green

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Published Dec 28, 2006

221 pages

Average rating: 7.51

594 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Looking for Alaska* is a thought-provoking coming-of-age story exploring friendship, grief, and self-discovery. Many praise John Green’s ...

Oree
Jun 25, 2025
8/10 stars
I wanted to read a book by John Greene since I'm subscribed to his YouTube channel... But this wasn't what I expected. It took me forever because it had a bit of a slow start. I'm used to books with more twists and turns so this was boring to me.
Louise K
Dec 01, 2025
5/10 stars
I picked this book up after seeing it a few times in coffee shops. It wasn’t really as expected and I didn’t feel like it was getting anywhere. Whilst there is a thread through the book and the author does manage to get the emotion through it, I couldn’t wait for it to end. Not for me but may appeal to others, I will stick to twisty thrillers.
Cjfranc
Nov 25, 2025
10/10 stars
Amazing!!!
BookBabe09
Nov 21, 2025
10/10 stars
THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ 🚬
Mrs Mayo
Nov 13, 2025
8/10 stars
This one builds you up and breaks you down... The book tackles a tough topic in a way that emphasizes a variety of causalities. Alaska was known by many, but not fully understood by any. I appreciate that we are left with some unanswered questions and plenty to ponder about life outside of the pages.

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