SSR Essay

Silent Reading End of the Quarter Essay My silent reading book was a fictional novel for young adults, Looking for Alaska by John Green. While reading this novel, it brought laughter, emotion, and anger the main character felt over to me. John Green has a very good interpretation of teenage thought and feeling. Through all the adventure and excitement of this novel, I felt I connected with the main character as I read on. It is an extraordinary book about a teenage boy looking for the ‘Great Perhaps’. The main character is an awkward seventeen-year-old teenager, Miles Halter, but is later nicknamed ‘Pudge’. Miles leaves his boring, unexciting life in Florida for a boarding school in Alabama named Culver Creek in hopes of finding the ‘Great Perhaps’. The ‘Great Perhaps’ is what Miles believes is adventure and thrilling experiences, which he hopes to find at this new school with his new friends. Miles roommate, the Colonel, introduces him to Takumi and Alaska Young. The newly nicknamed Pudge feels like he is finding his adventure with them, and at the same time falling in love with Alaska. The first half of the book is Pudge finding himself and his ‘Great Perhaps’ with Alaska, while the second half is Pudge trying to find out where Alaska went and why on the night she died in a car crash. From the exciting beginning of Pudges new life to the emotional end of Alaskas, this novel really hits every emotion as you read. I strongly recommend this novel to any teenager or adult who likes realistic fiction novels about life-long experiences and finding ones-self. John Greens language and thought that flow through Miles Halter is absolutely amazing. With every character there is such distinct characteristics about them that make them all so appealing and interesting to keep reading. This novel is certainly a page-turner and made it hard to put the book down as I read further and further into the novel. Connecting with the character, bringing many emotions to the reader, and making it impossible to put down are qualities in a book that many would enojy, which is exactly why I recommend Looking for Alaska to others.