Banned Books Week 2020, Looking For Alaska

“We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken.”

~John Green, Looking For Alaska

Today’s banned book that we will be talking about is the classic young adult novel, Looking For Alaska by John Green. This is a popular book in its own right, and one novel that will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve read this novel a number of times, and each time I read it, I was always able to take away something new from it. It was adapted into a Hulu original limited series last year, and I thought it was adapted very beautifully, though of course, I will always love the book more.

Originally published in 2005, this book has been banned and challenged in many schools and many libraries for multiple reasons. Some of the reasons being offensive language, explicit themes, promotion of smoking in young adults, unfavorable religious views, and a few others. The story of Looking For Alaska is one where the main character goes off to boarding school to seek his ‘Great perhaps’. His hobby is memorizing and studying the last words of famous figures, and on his quest at his new school he endeavors upon many characters, friendships, and adventures.

Green’s novel has been the center of controversy for a few years now, if it’s not being challenged by a library somewhere, it is being ridiculed for its characters and certain portrayals and expectations of said characters.

This was a story about friendship, love, loss, and dealing with what seems impossible. When I first read this story, I didn’t know what I was getting into, and the book completely shocked me. To be quite honest, I didn’t love the book the first time I read it. It left me feeling strange and just, completely shaken. Yet something about that story always stuck with me. Then one day, after reading a few of Green’s other novels and falling in love with them, I went back and reread Looking For Alaska. The second time I read it, I fell in love with the story, in all of its complexities and views. I had read it a few more times as the years went on I believe, and it was just a story that grew on me and showed me that it could always offer something new, and always be a source of comfort when needed. I think of this book more as a friend at some points, and I’m glad that I read it when I did.

There are very few books that I have encountered that dare to go as far as that one, and very few that show the truth of how life can be. It’s definitely not a light story to read, but I do think that it is an important one. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the story and the characters, I think that Looking For Alaska is one of those books that you don’t find, it’s one that finds you; as cliché and cheesy as that may come across. I’ll agree that the story should be read by a mature audience as it does focus heavily on a lot of darker themes, but this is definitely a banned book that I think deserves to be read if you feel so called.

Thanks for reading!