Okay, so I started my day by reading this article from yesterday in the
Wall Street Journal entitled "Darkness Too Visible,"
linked here
by Meghan Cox Gurdon. The subtitle is
"Contemporary fiction for teens is
rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this
considered a good idea?"
While Ms Gurdon makes some thought-provoking points and I'm quite
certain that she would use Looking for Alaska by John Green as an
example of what she refers to in her headline, what she would likely
miss in the explicit parts of the Alaska's story (which CAN be a bit
over-the-top at times) would be the genuine gifts the story offers as
well. Teen years are tough and for a teen (even a fictional one) to
offer the articulated realization is priceless "...She must have come to
feel so powerless, I thought that the one thing she might have
done--pick up the phone and call an ambulance--never even occurred to
her. There comes a time when we realize that our parents cannot save
themselves or save us , that everyone who wades through time eventually
gets dragged out to sea by the undertow--that, in short, we are all
going."
Instead of this book getting stuck in the tragedy Alaska's story,
the patient reader is offered a great deal of food for thought... one
tidbit is the unmistakable offering of "life as gift" and "every life
makes a difference". As the author states:
"When adults say, 'Teenagers think they are invincible' with that
sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are
....like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and
manifestations....But the part of us greater than the sum of our parts
cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail."
This book isn't likely to be one I'll recommend to most of my
youngish middle-school readers, but there are always a few for whom this
story will resonate and make them pause to reflect and I'll certainly
keep this story in my repertoire of suggestions.
By the way another point of view to the teen lit controversy is
offered by author Laurie Halse Anderson
linked here ... thought provoking!
My ranking: Alaska...my first summer read :)
Yea! A book to recommend to teens who do *NOT* want a vampire or
supernatural book. Cara and what her life is like at school provide the
story's basic structure. Unfortunately, Cara also happens to be one of
those kids that just really doesn't seem to fit into school life very
well. A lot of what happens to Cara is outside her ability to control
(she is bullied and tormented) but just as sadly, it often seems that
Cara's lack of confidence and social skills make he so ill-at-ease with
daily situations it's like she becomes her own worst enemy. Story is
written so that you *think* Cara's life is going one way...but be
prepared for a nice, juicy twist. If you're a reader that just loves a
surprise, this is NOT a book to read the ending pages first. On the
other hand, if you are a reader who likes to see how an author puts
things together in an interesting way and knowing the ending won't spoil
the pleasure of the book, by all means...see if you can figure out
what's what 
