Yes, Looking for Alaska Is Banned!

Looking for Alaska follows Miles “Pudge” Halter as he leaves his friendless existence in Florida for Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama, searching for what the dying poet François Rabelais called “the Great Perhaps.” There he meets Alaska Young, a force of nature who reads voraciously, drinks too much, and keeps everyone around her off-balance. The novel is split into “before” and “after” a devastating event that forces Miles to confront loss, guilt, and the impossibility of truly knowing another person.

John Green’s debut has been one of the most challenged books in America for nearly two decades. A single scene depicting oral sex between teenagers has driven most removal efforts, despite the scene being intentionally awkward and unglamorous. With 97 bans in the 2023-24 school year and a long history of challenges before that, Looking for Alaska has been pulled from shelves in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and dozens of other districts. Green has been vocal in defending the book, arguing that the scene exists to show the difference between physical intimacy and emotional connection.