When Alaska is first introduced to Pudge, one of the first impressions he has of it is the number of books that 'she owns. She explains that the collection has grown every summer since she was a child and that she plans to read them all when she is too old to have more adventures (Green 20). Alaska spends very little time in the novel talking about the past and spends a lot of time in the present and future. When there was a problem or unwelcome situation, she was able to raise a small army of friends to follow her. The only time she felt trapped was when she realized she had forgotten her mother's death. But she acted quickly and left to bring flowers to her mother's grave (Green 132). Because she was intoxicated, her driving was impaired and her adrenaline was pumping. When two cars got in her way, she tried to go around them (Green 211). She was incapable of knowing that this would cause a fatal collision, she just knew that she never let anything get stuck inside her.