Paper Towns

Book Cover: 

Book Title: Paper Towns

Book Summary:

In high school there is always that one girl that is the craziest in the whole school that would be Margo, and she was a dozy of a girl.  She finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her so she plans one last great night of revenge.  All goes well and she has sparked a flame in her next-door neighbor he hopes that he will be her next boyfriend.  The next part of the book is all about how Quentin the neighbor grows up and finds himself while trying to find Margo. 

APA Reference:

Green, J. (2008). Paper towns. New York: Dutton Books.

My Impressions:  That this is what I would think that a normal high school student does, I was the teachers pet and could not see my self doing this at that age, or my mom letting me do it.  I have had a few friends that have done some pretty stupid things in high school.  The book left me with some questions like how Margo had been able to manage on her own in an abandoned building with no income, and I wanted to know how Quentin could suddenly come and go at all hours of the night when he was still a senior in high school without his parents having some concern.

Professional Review:

Publishers Weekly

“Green melds elements from his Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines -- the impossibly sophisticated but unattainable girl, and a life-altering road trip--for another teen-pleasing read….  The title, which refers to unbuilt subdivisions and 'copyright trap' towns that appear on maps but don’t exist, unintentionally underscores the novel’s weakness: both milquetoast Q and self-absorbed Margo are types, not fully dimensional characters. Readers who can get past that will enjoy the edgy journey and off-road thinking. Ages 12-up.”

Paper Towns. (2008). [Review of the book Paper Towns by John Green]. Publishers Weekly, 255(36), 51.

Citation:

Paper Towns. (2008). [Review of the book Paper Towns by John Green]. Publishers Weekly, 255(36), 51.

Library Uses: I would have the students come up with a cary adventure that they want to go on.  I would also have them research some paper towns to see which towns are real and which are not.