Go read Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
First off, I love me a boarding school story, and this one is full of ridiculous pranks and night excursions and serious religious discussions and illicit drinking -- just like a boarding school story should be.
Second, it's very funny.
Third, it's actually about something more than popularity, or sex, or whatever, and much as I love reading most teen comedies, I was pleased to actually be invited to think.
Last, there's been a lot of discussion about whether or not the book represents female sexuality accurately or appropriately. And as someone who's given a huge amount of thought to this subject (sexuality and how it's represented in teen fiction), I actually really liked how Green represented Alaska. Yes, she is, in some ways, a quirky, difficult, idealized girl -- like that quirky sexpot from so many movies that so many boys seem to love -- and we never fully get to know her. But that, exactly, is the point of the novel. Pudge's ideas about Alaska -- and the other characters' ideas about her -- get discussed in great detail. Also: Alaska likes sex, and though she certainly suffers -- it's not because she's a girl who likes sex. It's for other reasons entirely.
In any case, I know I haven't told you what the book's about. It's about a boy called Pudge who starts junior year at an Alabama boarding school and gets swirled into the complicated lives of a small group of friends, including the short, complex, hard-drinking Colonel, and a queen-bee bad girl called Alaska. Any more would be telling.
Can't post the cover. This dial-up business is making me insane. I am so spoilt by DSL. Sorry. But go to Green's website, and look at it there.
Happy reading!
--E
