I highly recommend Looking for Alaska by John Green. A Printz gold-medal winner and IA High School Book Award choice, this is one of the best novels I've read this year.
For mature teen readers through adults, the story is told by Miles, a new student in a southern boarding school, where he meets a close-knit group of friends, including a wild and mildly cryptic girl named Alaska. The voice of this coming-of-age story, although more contemporary, reminds me somewhat of A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
The characters are relateable and multi-layered, from Miles' roomate, nicknamed "the Colonel," to the stern headmaster the students try to outsmart with a sure-to-be-legendary senior prank. This is the best kind of novel....it made me laugh out loud at times, reach for the kleenex at others, and continue to think about it long after I finished the last page.
I will likely seek out Green's other books, An Abundance of Katherines, which earned a Prinz silver medal, and Paper Towns, a well-reviewed novel published this year.
