Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
before
after
some last words on last words
SOME QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
The prank.
Everybody was sitting on sleeping bags, Alaska smoking with flagrant disregard
for the overwhelming flammability of the structure, when the Colonel pulled out
a single piece of computer paper and read from it.
“The point of this evening’s festivities is to prove once and for all that we are
to pranking what the Weekday Warriors are to sucking. But we’ll also have the
opportunity to make life unpleasant for the Eagle, which is always a welcome
pleasure. And so,” he said, pausing as if for a drumroll, “we fight tonight a battle
on three fronts:
“Front One: The pre-prank: We will, as it were, light a fire under the Eagle’s
ass.
“Front Two: Operation Baldy: Wherein Lara flies solo in a retaliatory mission
so elegant and cruel that it could only have been the brainchild of, well, me.”
“Hey!” Alaska interrupted. “It was my idea!”
“Okay, fine. It was Alaska’s idea.” He laughed. “And finally, Front Three:
The Progress Reports: We’re going to hack into the faculty computer network
and use their grading database to send out letters to Kevin et al.’s families saying
that they are failing some of their classes.”
“We are definitely going to get expelled,” I said.
“I hope you didn’t bring the Asian kid along thinking he’s a computer genius.
Because I am not,” Takumi said.
“We’re not going to get expelled, and I’m the computer genius. The rest of
you are muscle and distraction. We’re just, you know, wreaking a little havoc.”
OTHER SPEAK BOOKS
Pages 18-19 and 155: Excerpt from The General in His Labyrinth, by Gabriel García Márquez Page 85:
Poetry quote from “As I Walked Out One Evening,” by W. H. Auden Page 89: Poetry quote from “Not So
Far as the Forest,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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First published in the United States of America by Dutton Books,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2005
Published by Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2007
This Premium edition published by Speak,
an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2008
Copyright © John Green, 2005
All rights reserved Summary: Sixteen-year-old Miles’ first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in
Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and
death after a fatal car crash.
eISBN : 978-1-101-43420-8
[1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Boarding schools—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Death—Fiction.]
I. Title.
PZ7.G8233Lo 2005 [Fic]—dc22 2004010827
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To my family: Sydney Green, Mike Green, and Hank Green
“I have tried so hard to do right.”
(last words of President Grover Cleveland)
acknowledgments
USING SMALL TYPE that does not reflect the size of my debt, I need to
acknowledge some things:
First, that this book would have been utterly impossible if not for the
extraordinary kindness of my friend, editor, quasi-agent, and mentor, Ilene
Cooper. Ilene is like a fairy godmother, only real, and also better dressed.
Second, that I am amazingly fortunate to have Julie Strauss-Gabel as my
editor at Dutton, and even luckier to have become her friend. Julie is every
writer’s dream editor: caring, passionate, and inarguably brilliant. This right
here, her acknowledgment, is the one thing in the whole book she couldn’t edit,
and I think we can agree it suffered as a result.
Third, that Donna Brooks believed in this story from the beginning and did
much to shape it. I’m also indebted to Margaret Woollatt of Dutton, whose name
contains too many consonants but who is a really top-notch person. And thanks
as well to the talented Sarah Shumway, whose careful reading and astute
comments were a blessing to me.
Fourth, that I am very grateful to my agent, Rosemary Sandberg, who is a
tireless advocate for her authors. Also, she is British. She says “Cheers” when
she means to say “Later.” How great is that?
Fifth, that the comments of my two best friends in the entire world, Dean
Simakis and Will Hickman, were essential to the writing and revision of this
story, and that I, uh, you know, love them.
Sixth, that I am indebted to, among many others, Shannon James (roommate),
Katie Else (I promised), Hassan Arawas (friend), Braxton Goodrich (cousin),
Mike Goodrich (lawyer, and also cousin), Daniel Biss (professional
mathematician), Giordana Segneri (friend), Jenny Lawton (long story), David
Rojas and Molly Hammond (friends), Bill Ott (role model), Amy Krouse
Rosenthal (got me on the radio), Stephanie Zvirin (gave me my first real job), P.
F. Kluge (teacher), Diane Martin (teacher), Perry Lentz (teacher), Don Rogan
(teacher), Paul MacAdam (teacher—I am a big fan of teachers), Ben Segedin
(boss and friend), and the lovely Sarah Urist.
Seventh, that I attended high school with a wonderful bunch of people. I
would like to particularly thank the indomitable Todd Cartee and also Olga
Charny, Sean Titone, Emmett Cloud, Daniel Alarcon, Jennifer Jenkins, Chip
Dunkin, and MLS.
before
