Banned Book 2020 Spotlight: Looking for Alaska

By: John Green

3/5 Students

Reasons: "challenged for a sexually explicit scene that may lead a student to 'sexual experimentation'" as per the OIF.

John Green is no stranger to the Banned Books List. In fact, I think he almost revels in making it - it's become a sport at this point. Looking for Alaska is definitely his most banned book, and perhaps his most controversial. The reason? Because it may lead students to sexual experimentation... Ah, yes, because it's only those kids who read that will be lead towards sexual experimentation. No other teenager in the history of ever has those natural urges. But, that's a conversation for another time.

Looking for Alaska follows Miles, a teenage boy, as he attends his first year of boarding school. At this boarding school, he meets Alaska, who leads him towards a path of discovery. The two are a great pair together, yet the book still ends in tragedy.

Why is my review so brief? Because it's been years since I read this book, and there are two things I remember from it: suicide and blow jobs. Even though there's are the two things I remember, I can assure that I didn't jump on the chance to do either because I was only about thirteen or fourteen. So, you know, I wasn't exactly influenced by the book in that way. Instead, I still remember how I felt after reading it. As a young teen, I felt like Green wrote in a way that made sense. It felt like he understood me. Yes, all these years later, I remember the reasons it was banned but that's probably because it was the first book I read that mentioned those two things. If anything, it encouraged me to wait when it came to the dating game because I didn't like the way I felt reading about it. Secondly, it made me realize that suicide was not the answer to anything.

Some may say I was just an angsty teen, but I can tell you this: I was depressed. Reading was the only time I felt any remote joy. I picked up Looking for Alaska because I saw that it might help me online, and in a way, it did. Now that I'm older, I don't necessarily think it's a well-written book, and I'm not a fan of Green anymore; however, the impact is still there. What matters is how I felt at the time.

So why write this review? Because I want to highlight how dangerous it is to ban books! No, this book didn't save my life per se, but it made a difference. What would've happened if I couldn't have found it at any library? What if the bookstores didn't sell it? Honestly, I would've probably found another story exactly like it. We can't ban them all...