Looking for Alaska

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of suicide.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Like Looking for Alaska, John Green’s Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars both focus on young people who are experiencing literal and existential journeys. Compare and contrast these novels’ main characters and overall messages.

2. Familiarize yourself with some of the author’s nonfiction work, such as The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet and his online shows. How do these works inform his fiction’s focus on subjects like mental health conditions and the search for meaning? What connections can you draw between the author’s own life experiences and some of the topics in Looking for Alaska?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. What do you think of Miles’s commitment to seeking the “Great Perhaps” that the poet Rabelais mentions in his last words? Do you have a mantra or piece of wisdom that you look to for guidance in life? If so, how have these words helped you?

2. Why do you think that Alaska is unable to forgive herself? When you make a mistake, do you find it easy or difficult to forgive yourself? Consider sharing a story about a time when you received or granted forgiveness and explain how this experience affected you.