Recommendation

I wanted to make a recommendation for a YAL book I recently read called "Looking for Alaska," by John Green. This book struck me as very mature compared to some of the other YAL books I have read, but I respected it for that. I think any high school-er could appreciate this book for not treating the reader like a child. It deals with some mature themes like suicide, drinking, and smoking, but it presents them in a very realistic manner.
This book is very much a coming of age story. There were two main ideas that kept recurring throughout the book. The protagonists search for the "great perhaps." In other words, his step outside his comfort zone in search for the meaning of life. Coupled with a supporting characters desire to escape the "labyrinth," a metaphor for how confusing and complicated life can be, and a desire to escape life's problems. These two ideas work very fluidly together throughout the novel because there is a conflict between them. The characters want to find out more about themselves, but dont want to get lost along the way.
Also, the book can be just fun at times. I loved the protagonists obsession with famous last words, and the pranks he and his friends played while at school. All of the characters were pretty interesting, and the main cast were all very 3-dimensional. Its also a book I couldn't put down because it kept a solid pace from one event to the next. If I had to find fault with the book I would say that some of the issues the characters face are not unique to this genre (while most certainly are). I also thought that while the main characters are great some of the backup characters get stereotypical at times. Nonetheless, it is a great novel, so if you have some free time consider checking this one out.