John Green does a brilliant job of lacing his novels with references to important writers, historical figures and events. This is part of the reason why his books would work well in a HS classroom, in spite of their sometimes questionable language and themes. LFA could easily be paired with any number of works of essential literature, but even reading the novel in isolation would provoke classroom discussion about issues that extend far beyond the book itself.
Looking for Alaska makes overt references to:
The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The novel makes casual reference to other authors, including Robert Frost.
The characters in LFA enroll in a religious studies course in which they discuss and reflect on the basic tenets of Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism.
LFA could also lend itself to a study of history in literature. Miles quotes the famous last words attributed to numerous historical and political figures such as Robert E. Lee, Meriwether Lewis, Millard Filmore, Thomas Edison, Edgar Allen Poe and many more.
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