YA - Looking for Alaska--John Green

John Green is a "young adult" author with a huge "human being" following. Students love his work for his intelligent portrayal of adolescent characters. He doesn't write down to them, but instead understands their world is just as important as the world of adults. Those of us who enjoy teaching so much would agree. Looking for Alaska is set in a boarding school in Alabama and Green assembles a group of unlikely but totally believable friends--the kid who has never had friends, really; the kid who has the system down and beat; and the smart and unachievable Alaska. The story is both a mystery--the chapters are titled "33 days before," "31 days before," "15 days after," and it takes awhile to understand the event is Alaska's suicide...well, the friends aren't sure it actually was suicide, and that is the mystery they are trying to solve. The book is full of the desire, longing, pain and joy of being a adolescent. Students who have read it put it only second to The Fault in Our Stars. I'd agree. I'm not sure the book holds up to the official close reading from Sara's link: "Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately. Directing student attention on the text itself empowers students to understand the central ideas and key supporting details. It also enables students to reflect on the meanings of individual words and sentences; the order in which sentences unfold; and the development of ideas over the course of the text, which ultimately leads students to arrive at an understanding of the text as a whole. (PARCC, 2011, p. 7)." There are some interesting problems to discuss, decisions to debate, but as I think about consideration of implications of individual words, sentences etc., it just isn't that deep. I think the purpose of this book would be more motivational, or supplemental--outside reading is where this fit for my students (student choice books read outside of class for pleasure). Many had come to junior year having already read this book for fun. Ditto for the Common Core. The most likely match (below) references characterization and implications of plot details. Again, the complexity of the text isn't that, well, difficult. But is sure is engaging. 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.