Book Club Friday!

It is my favorite blogging day of the week. Not only is it Friday (TGIF!), but it is Book Club Friday! The fabulous book club link up hosted by Heather at Blonde Undercover Blonde.

This week I read a lot, and studied very little. Ok, I did not study at all. I am at the tail of end of my fourth and final summer class, and it is online and there are two modules left to do. The second to last module is due August 5th, which means I have to finish it by Tuesday because I leave for vacation on Wednesday. Why am I telling you all of this? Because, instead of working towards finishing this module I was busy reading Looking for Alaska by John Green.

John Green writes young adult novels, but honestly, that genre has NOTHING to do with the quality of the books. If you think young adult novels are for only teens, you are sorely mistaken and missing out on some great literature.

Earlier this year I read The Fault in our Stars, which is Green's fourth book (I believe) and I fell completely in love with the writing. I knew that I would get my hands on Looking for Alaska soon. Then in the adolescent lit class I took over the summer, the prof and I were talking about this author and she said I HAD to pick up Looking For Alaska if I liked his writing. So, I did!

So, I bet you want to know what the book is about, huh?

Here's the summary from Goodreads:

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

I love boarding school books. Probably because it is a vastly different world than what I am used to. But, in addition to that aspect of the book, the characters are what really did it for me. Green creates the most intelligent, realistic and interesting characters I have "met" in a long time. All of his characters are deep and insightful, but they are still normal teenagers that make mistakes and rebel. They're just really smart, but still make those stupid mistakes that all teenagers make and you're screaming, "nooooo!" but, know that they are going to do it anyway because that is what teenagers do. 


If you are a fan of young adult and want something that is well written with intriguing characters and an intense plot, than this is for you! 
  
What young adult book hooked you on the genre? For me, it was probably the Hunger Games series that really sealed the deal.