Of all the choices on the list, I chose Looking for Alaska because everyone had been talking about how good it was. All of my friends had read it and told me I needed to too. Also, I am a huge fan of John Green, the author of this book. I read The Fault in Our Stars last year and I absolutely loved it so I figured I would like another book of his, too. A personal connection I had was that sometimes I'm not very good with change and it takes me a while to get used to things, just like it did with Pudge at his new school. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially teenage girls because I feel like we enjoy books with more drama and some romance in them, but anyone could enjoy it.

"I didn't sleep that night. Damn was slow in coming, and even when it did, the sun shining bright through the blinds, the rickety radiator couldn't keep us warm, so the Colonel and I sat wordlessly on the couch. He read the almanac. The night before, I'd braved the cold to call my parents, and this time when I said, 'Hey, it's Miles,' and my mom answered with, 'What's wrong? Is everything okay?' I could safely tell her no, everything was not okay. My dad picked up the phone then."

In this section of Looking for Alaska, Pudge (Miles) is going through struggles. Something tragic happened to him and the whole school just two days before and he isn't really handeling it that well. He already was struggling a bit just adjusting to the new school, but then this event occured and it all changed. If you want to kmow what happened, read the book to find out!

While reading, I am noticing Miles' desire; to find a 'Great Perhaps' at his new boarding school. Although Miles really likes Alaska, she already has a boyfriend so she made him a deal. Alaska will find him a girl when he finds out more about the labyrinth, so that is a goal and desire for the both of them. I really like how the book is set up. John Green wrote it in first person; Miles' view. He does a great job of showing emotions and thoughts flowing through his head, which really engages me in the book and makes it a lot more interesting. Each chapter is written in the counting of the days before and the days after. I don't know what it is counting down til yet, but I can't wait to see!

The book I am reading is called Looking for Alaska by John Green. One of the main characters is Miles Halter, who is a junior in high school, starting his first year at Culver Creek. At the campus, Miles' roommate's name is Chip. He gives himself the name of "The Colonel". He is very intellegent and is a natural leader. He gives Miles the nickname of Pudge and takes him to meet his old friend Alaska. The minute Miles sees her he begins to develop feelings for her. One of the conflicts developed in the beginning of the book is that Miles and Alaska get kicked out of religions class. It has me wondering what other trouble those two are going to get in throughout the book. So far I'm enjoying this book and I am excited to see how the story develops because I am a big fan of John Green and I know it will be great.

   As I was reading today, I noticed that Clay keeps saying "It's just a school project." When his mom asks him what he is doing. He was searching for the location on the map that Hannah told him to go to when he ran into his mom, and she kept asking where he was going. He continued to respond with those simple words, "It's just a school project."
   I think that is the most important line in that chapter because no matter how hard he wants to tell his family and friends what he's doing, he keeps it a secret. He is so caring for Hannah that he can hide everything from people, no matter how bad it is eating him up inside, and that is something you love to see in a character, which allows you to look up to him.

    As I read through Thirteen Reasons Why, I have been notcicing how down-to-Earth Clay is. He is so honest and caring to everything and he is very sensitive to what people say, especially about Hannah. He is very emotional after his loss of Hannah and that effected him so much as a person and in his actions/ way of living, even though he didn't know her too personally. Well, now he does through the videos and I think that is what is ripping him apart; he feels guilty because of her death, because he thinks he was a part of it, especially because Hannah mentions him in the clips.
    I really love the character that Clay has become. He is doing anything and everything for Hannah and to figure everything out for the world to know, and it is inspiring to read because most of the people in the world are very selfish and would just try to accept the fact that Hannah died, but Clay is very selfless and is always watching out for people and to look for answers. I am so excited to read what happens next!

    One thing that I have noticed about the author's way of writing and the way the book is set up is that it goes back and forth between Hannah talking in the tapes and Clay giving his feedback. I have learned to love the way this book is set up because it shows us Clay's reactions to everything Hannah says and it makes the book even more suspenseful. That is another thing that the author does well; suspense. He always keeps the readers on their toes and stretches out the stories to make us wanting to read more, and it works. I have not been able to put this book down and in my opinion, he is one of the best authors that I have read from. Jay Asher, the author, does a great job at capturing everyone's voices throughout every little story in the book, and especially Hannah's. Yeah, he is a male author, but I think that no one could capture Hannah's voice better than he did. He made her seem so realistic and it allowed us to connect with her.