I am a big fan of John Green the author and John Green the person. He was kind enough to give me an interview after he won the Printz award, which I'll always be grateful for, and he is published by our mutual house, Dutton. I enjoyed John's first two novels, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. I REALLY enjoyed his new, very different novel, Paper Towns. John tends to challenge my logic and intellect with his eccentric characters, but I could relate to practically the whole cast in Paper Towns. John captured the loyalties, desires, friendships and intense emotions that envelop teenagers in high school.
Senior Quentin Jacobson for years has pined for his neighbor and very hot classmate, Margo Roth Spiegleman. Margo takes Quentin on a wild night of creative revenge against her old boyfriend and gives Quentin adventures he couldn't have imagined. Very nerdy Quentin is exhilarated by life with Margo and secretly hopes for a relationship to develop. Then Margo is kicked out of her house and runs away, and Quentin dedicates the last weeks of his senior year to find her, dead or alive.
Quentin begins his quest with the help of his marching band buddies, Radar and Ben. Through prom night, abandoned strip malls, housing developments and Walt Whitman, Quentin takes us on a journey filled with possible clues to Margo's whereabouts. After he figures out where Margo might be, Quentin leaves his graduation ceremony and his friends join him.
Paper Towns has such heart. A story of dedication, loyalty, true friendships and obsessive desires, it reminds us that sometimes we need to reevaluate a quest, and our hearts, once we find what we were looking for. A must read.
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