Looking For Alaska Banned

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My Response to the Banning of Looking For Alaska “Text is meaningless without context,” best-selling author John Green said in response to the censorship of his book, Looking For Alaska. The 2005 young adult book claimed the number one spot on a list of controversial books, ahead of EL James’ Fifty Shades of Grey and interestingly The Bible. In 2015, Looking For Alaska was named the most challenged book in a survey by an American Library Association. Most of the complaints that caused the controversy over whether the book should be banned or not, were “offensive language” and “sexually explicit descriptions.” John Green fights back against the banning of his book and his reasonings are quite fascinating. I believe that John Green’s, Looking …show more content…
And contrary to the popular belief of the Board of Education pricks that want to get "Looking for Alaska" banned, John Green is not promoting sex, drinking, and alcohol by including them in his book. At least that was not the impression I got from reading it. If anything, I had even less of a desire to do any of the three.” I completely agree with this statement and I believe it proves another point as to why it shouldn’t be banned. I got the same impression as this blogger got, in which John Green isn’t intending to promote any of the issues discussed in the book that parents’ seem to have problems with. SE Wagner gives plenty of examples from the book that proves that it isn’t John Green’s intention to promote or persuade the reader to engage in any of the activities portrayed throughout the entirety of this novel. In fact, it kind of led me to think the exact opposite. After debating with myself whether I agree or disagree with the concept of banning this novel, I thought after especially reading what SE Wagner had to say, how it is easy for one to be under the impression that John Green’s intention wasn’t to promote these things. After reading the book, I realized how characters acknowledged and understood how smoking can lead to death, how the consequences of their drinking habits were pretty treacherous, how the sex was not glorified and only appeared as awkward and gross, and how the smoking, drinking, and sex didn’t make any of the characters happier than they were prior to all