"Looking for Alaska"

I was amazed that this book touched on so many important issues. John Green did an amazing job at making the characters believable. I think all readers can compare their lives to at least one of the characters in the novel. Although there were many parts through out the book that really spoke to me, the part where Alaska gets into the car made me the most emotional.
Although I have never known anyone who has died in a car accident, I have known people who have made stupid mistakes in which their lives were put at risk. Underage drinking is a terrible thing to begin with, but the fact that Alaska got into a car while being intoxicated made the entire situation even worse. She was looking for an 'escape' from reality and found it in cigarettes, alcohol, and putting her life at risk. Someone very close to me has gotten into a car while being far from able to drive due to the amount of alcohol he had drank. He recked his car but thankfully walked away with his life. This passage in the book struck me because it showed me just how easy it is to make a stupid mistake. My friend who was driving while under the influence had to spend time in jail due to one stupid decision. Thankfully that decision changed his life because it showed him how close to death he had come.
Alaska's decision to drive when she shouldn't have showed how she was looking for a way to end her life. She was waiting for the end, and it came faster than it should have. The worst part is that there are thousands of kids that are going through many of the same issues that Alaska was dealing with. They think that their lives don't have a purpose or that they are hopeless. When tragedies like Alaska's happen it really shows that everyone, no matter what they may think, have an affect on somebody and one stupid decision could possibly be the last decision they make.