Paper Towns by John Green

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books, A Member of Penguin
Publication Date: October 21st, 2008
Number of Pages: 305
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When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge follows her. Margo has always planned extravagantly, and, until now, shes always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they are for Q.

Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.

Brilliant. Amazing. Astonishing. These are words that can't even justify a fraction of how beautiful and powerful this book was. I am deeply shocked and upset with myself that I have not discovered the outstanding John Green sooner.

Paper Towns was an interesting and different idea. I liked reading from a males perspective, which I don't remember the last time I've done. I must say that Q was much more mature when I thought he would act like my eight-year-old brother but he (along with his companions Radar and Ben) did make me think "ew" once in a while.

I also thought the mystery aspect of this book was quite different. Have you ever read a mystery novel where the person that leaves the clues wants to be found? That they left the evidence on purpose? This novel had an interesting twist that still kept me entertained and VERY tempted to flip to the end of the book.

This novel also made me think of us book lovers. There is always going to be a line between us and everyone else. Not everyone will see it, but it's there. True readers will see the world differently. They can understand people more clearly, live in their shoes. They will analyze things from a more observant pair of eyes. Why? Because we've been there. We know what people think and why they do things. Some people will say that reading is similar to watching T.V., and it is - a little - but it's not the same. When we read, we know why things happen. We get inside the persons' head and understand. In watching television we draw things out of our own experiences and use that, which is not always valid. I know that Paper Towns has made me think of things differently. Very thought-provoking.

The Bottom Line: This is a book that I think everyone should read. If you don't, I have a feeling someones will convince you to pick it up anyways. This is NOT my last John Green book. A.