Module 3/June 20-26/ Looking for Alaska by John Green

Bibliographic Citation: Green, John. (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton Children's Books

Summary:  At 16 years old, Miles Halter leaves his home to attend a Culver Creek Preparatory School; a boarding school in Alabama. He meets some good friends and takes part in great pranks. When tragedy strikes, Miles begins a quest to search for answers about life and death.  

Reviews: “Looking for Alaska will haunt readers with its memorable characters, its literary

and philosophical questions about life and death that so fascinate teens, and its ultimate affirmation of a life lived fully. Highly Recommended. Catherine M. Andronik, Library Media Specialist, Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk, Connecticut” Glantz, S., & Scordato, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska[Review excerpt]. Library Media Connection, 24(3), 66-67. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

“The Alaska of the title is a maddening, fascinating, vivid girl seen through the eyes of Pudge (Miles only to his parents), who meets Alaska at boarding school in Alabama. Pudge is a skinny ("irony" says his roommate, the Colonel, of the nickname) thoughtful kid who collects and memorizes famous people's last words. The Colonel, Takumi, Alaska and a Romanian girl named Lara are an utterly real gaggle of young persons, full of false starts, school pranks, moments of genuine exhilaration in learning and rather too many cigarettes and cheap bottles of wine. Their engine and center is Alaska, given to moodiness and crying jags but also full of spirit and energy, owner of a roomful of books she says she's going to spend her life reading. Her center is a woeful family tragedy, and when Alaska herself is lost, her friends find their own ways out of the labyrinth, in part by pulling a last, hilarious school prank in her name. What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent. (Fiction. YA)” LOOKING FOR ALASKA. (2005). Kirkus Reviews, 73(5), 287. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Personal Impressions: I really enjoyed this book. The story is one that just captivates the reader and makes the reader think. The main character is obsessed with the last words of famous people. Some of the last words just make you think about your own life. It’s a beautiful story about life and death with some good humor thrown into the mix. One quote that stuck with me from reading this book is this :“Tomas Edison’s last words were “It’s very beautiful over there.” I don’t know where there is but I believe it’s somewhere and I hope it’s beautiful”. 

Suggestions for Use:  I used this book to create a book trailer. This is a good book for high school age students for a book talk or discussion about death and losing someone you care about.

Module 3/June 20-26/ Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Bibliographic Citation: Lowry, Lois. (1989). Number the stars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Summary:  Annemarie Johnson and her family along with her best friend Ellen Rosen live in Nazi controlled Copenhagen during 1943. Ellen Rosen and her parents are Jewish. When the German troops begin to “relocate” the Jews of Denmark, the Johnsons risk their own lives by taking in Ellen and claiming her as part of the family. 

Reviews: “What would you do for a friend? In this suspenseful novel set in Denmark in 1943, Annemarie Johansen answers this question with true bravery. When Annemarie discovers that her best friend Ellen is in danger, she tries to save her from the Nazis before it's too late. This is a touching story about the beauty of friendship.” Number the Stars. (2002). Scholastic Scope, 50(17), 19. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

“Gr 3-7The gripping story of a ten-year-old Danish girl and her family's courageous efforts to smuggle Jews out of their Nazi-occupied homeland to safety in Sweden. Readers are taken to the very heart of Annemarie's experience, and, through her eyes, come to understand the true meaning of bravery. (Mar. 1989)” Number the Stars (Book). (1989). School Library Journal, 35(16), 39. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Personal Impressions:  I have a bit of a fascination with books about the Holocaust. I believe the reasoning for this is because it was so horrible what happened. This was a great story full of courage. Even though the story is fictional, it did not feel like it. It felt as though Annemarie was actually a character that existed. The story is filled with friendship and courage during a dangerous time.  What lengths the Johnson’s go through just to protect their friends should be a lesson to us all. 

Suggestions for Use: This is a good classroom read when studying the Holocaust or World War II .  For use in a library setting, this would be a good book for a book club discussion or included in a collection of both nonfiction and fiction books about and set during the  Holocaust.