Green fans anticipate the release of the upcoming movie. photo by Lucy Peterson
After ten years, John Green’s Looking for Alaska is coming to theaters.
Many people are talking about the remade book Looking for Alaska by famous author John Green. This recognized book is being made into a movie, set to come out in January of 2016. Green recreated the book after having its ten year anniversary in March of 2015. This new edition celebratory book has fifty new pages as well as other exclusive features such as a new cover.
Looking for Alaska has made its mark in readers’ hearts, and continues to affect new readers. In this heart-wrenching love story, the main character, Miles, falls in love with a free-spirited girl, Alaska. The character Alaska brings trouble wherever she goes, and Miles often follows. One of the deeper messages in this book is that overcoming losses takes time and thought. Miles ends up falling in love with Alaska, and because of this he takes time in order to overcome his feelings for her. TJ English teacher Lauren Palek believes there are several hidden messages. Palek makes the connection to Alaska’s character, a beautiful lively person, although on the inside she has a lot of sadness and darkness. “Sometimes what you see on the outside isn’t always what you get on the inside,” she explained.
Green intentionally created the character Miles to be similar to himself. Miles memorizes the last words of famous people as does Green. One of these quotes Miles uses is “I go to see a Great Perhaps,”- by Francois Rabelais. After the ten year anniversary for Looking for Alaska, Green made the decision to recreate the book as a celebration of its success. He added a few more parts which added more to the story and filled in loose cracks Green left open. Sophomore Grace Leonard described, “I think it might add a little bit more because [there] were some gaps in the story that I think he filled.” Many fans were eager to read this version when Green came out with a new cover and exclusive inserts. This anniversary book seems to have done just as well as the original did when it was published.
While this impactful book is already on many bookshelves, it is now being made into a movie. Green and the director of the movie, Rebecca Thomas, planned that the movie would come out this fall, but could not decide on the part of Alaska. Looking for Alaska book lovers are on the edge of their seats waiting for the release of the actress for Alaska’s character. Green and Thomas had the character Alaska down to two contenders, although the decision was too difficult so they decided to start over and find a new actress. Because of this, they have pushed the movie back to January 2016, a disappointment to most fans. Leonard is one of these excited fans, explaining, “I think it’s very important, if they don’t get her right they’ve messed up.” Fans everywhere are hoping for a perfect actress to fit the part so the movie can be set on its way. Acclaimed screenplay writer, Sarah Polley was hired to write for the film, Green is looking forward to have her work on the movie, has done several incredible movies, such as Away From Her and Stories we Tell.
Looking for Alaska will be Green’s third book being made into a big film. Paper Towns was one of these gripping novels, published in 2008, which made it to the big screen July of 2015. Paper Towns also involves a male role as the main character who is awestruck and hypnotized by a character similar to Alaska. Looking for Alaska is affecting many young adult readers. The hidden themes and messages are having an impact, and are changing the way students think. Palek believes that this book brings something special to TJ students she said, “[it’s] something that you can relate to, something that teenagers go through.” Students can learn from this inspiring book because a lot of young adults have experienced things that occur in the book. By learning from mistakes and hard times discussed in this books students can gain a better understanding of how to correct them or avoid them in the future.
