<P> Two teachers at Depew High School near Buffalo, New York, used the book for eleventh grade instruction in 2008 . Looking For Alaska was challenged by parents for its sexual content and moral disagreements with the novel . Despite the teachers providing an alternate book, parents still argued for it to be removed from curriculum due to its inappropriate content such as offensive language, sexually explicit content, including a scene described as "pornographic", and references to homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, and smoking . The book was ultimately kept in the curriculum by the school board after a unanimous school board vote with the stipulation that the teachers of the 11th grade class give the parents a decision to have their children read an alternate book . Looking for Alaska was defended by the school district because they felt it dealt with themes relevant to students of this age, such as death, drinking and driving, and peer pressure . </P> <P> In March 2012, The Knoxville Journal reported that a parent of a 15 - year - old Karns High School student objected to the book's placement on the Honors and Advanced Placement classes' required reading lists for Knox County high schools on the grounds that its sex scene and its use of profanity rendered it pornography . Ultimately, students were kept from reading the novel as a whole, but Looking For Alaska was still available in libraries within the district . In May of 2012, Sumner County in Tennessee also banned the teaching of Looking For Alaska . The school's spokesman argued that two pages of the novel included enough explicit content to ban the novel . </P> <P> Further controversy came from the cover art . In August 2012, Green acknowledged that the extinguished candle on the cover leads to "an improbable amount of smoke", and explained that the initial cover design did not feature the candle . Green said that certain book chains were uncomfortable with displaying or selling a book with a cover that featured cigarette smoke, so the candle was added beneath the smoke . In John Green's box set, released on October 25, 2012, the candle has been removed from the cover . Further paperback releases of the book also have the candle removed . </P> <P> Green defended his book in his vlog, Vlogbrothers . The video, entitled "I Am Not A Pornographer", describes the Depew High School challenge of Looking For Alaska and his anger at the description of his novel as pornography . Green defends the inclusion of the oral sex scene in Looking for Alaska stating, "The whole reason that scene in question exists in Looking for Alaska is because I wanted to draw a contrast between that scene, when there is a lot of physical intimacy, but it is ultimately very emotionally empty, and the scene that immediately follows it, when there is not a serious physical interaction, but there's this intense emotional connection ." Green argues that the misunderstanding of his book is the reason for its controversy, and calls to people to understand the actual literary content before judging specific scenes . He also condemns the way that groups of parents underestimate the intelligence of teenagers and their ability to analyze literature . He ends with encouraging his viewers to attend the Depew School Board hearing to defend the choice of parents, students, and teachers to have Looking For Alaska included in public schools . </P>

Looking for alaska written by john green is a story