Looking for Alaska by John Green

Some books are so seamlessly and fantastically written that as you are reading you forget that it is in fact a story you are reading. You forget that the characters are not real people. You forget that the things that happen to them have not actually happened. When I picked up two of John Green's books, both Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars I knew that I would have to really psych myself up to read The Fault in Our Stars, a book that would, without a doubt, make me cry, so I decided to read Looking for Alaska. Well, I ended up in bed at 2 A.M. unable to sleep and bawling my eyes out. Thanks John Green for your amazing writing. Thanks for making me love your characters. Thanks for making me realize how little control we have over those we love most. Thanks for making me realize that you probably can't save those you love, no matter how much you want, if they don't want to be saved.

Looking for Alaska is definitely Miles' story of truly experiencing life, even when someone he loves dies. Yes, Looking for Alaska will make you cry. But it will also make you laugh and think and appreciate those around us. Yes, I went and hugged all of my children a little tighter the next day.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (damn you Lauren Oliver and your amazing writing)

What happens right before we die? What do we think about? Do we have regrets? Do we realize mistakes we made?

It took me awhile to get up the nerve to read this book. I hate to admit it, but becoming a mom has changed my outlook on the stories I read. I always tell my students that each of us brings a new perspective to a novel. It is impossible for anyone to strip themselves of their life experiences, because how we have been shaped and those that shaped us will always be in our conscience, and it will always affect the way we view everything; a film, a television show, a political story, a novel.

For me, Before I Fall is about the death of a girl: someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's friend, and I think that is why it has taken me nearly three years to pick up the story and read it. As a mother of two amazing little girls I couldn't imagine them not being in my life forever, and even though Samantha is a fictional character, I didn't want her taken from her parents or her sister. Although Samantha has her faults, through the novel we see the love she has for those around her, and it is heartbreaking that even her good days must come to an end.

For me, Before I Fall is about a very mean girl who is allowed a second chance. We are not supposed to like popular beautiful Samantha Kingston because what she does right before her death is terrible. As she sees it, she didn't deserve to die, no one deserves that, but her mean act forces her to relive the day of her death over and over again until she gets it right.

Oliver, as always, has written a character that we can truly feel. Not everyone can relate to Samantha. She is mean, she is popular, she is beautiful and is well aware of the fact that other students want to be her, and she seems to make mistake after mistake. However, there are things I love about Samantha, and I can see how other teenagers would relate to her as well. After all, I'm sure we have all done something to another person that we have regretted before. Yes, you are judged by the bad things do, but the ultimate judgment comes with whether or not you try to fix the mistakes you have made.