What I Read: Paper Towns

Paper Towns
by John Green

Sigh. I loved this book.

It's about unrequited love.
It's a mystery.
It's about popularity and perception and friendship.

It starts when Margo Roth Spiegelman climbs through Quentin Jacobson's bedroom window in the middle of the night, and ends with Q on a 24-hour road trip (in a mini-van) with his best friends.

It is about Q's search for Margo. It's a physical search for Margo, but it is so much more than that. It is Q's search for who Margo really is - what is important to her, what she dreams about, her true self.

John Green's characters are hilarious. Take Ben. He's a complete nerd (who refers to girls as "honeybunnies") and total genius. Or Q's other friend, Radar, whose parents own the largest collection of black Santa Clauses in the nation.

But, John Green's characters are also smart. Margo leaves clues about her disappearance in the lines of Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

I told some eighth graders about the book last week. I think they would be drawn in by the mystery and interested in the adult language, underage drinking parties, and sexual tension. I don't think they would really understand the subtle messages about pressure and identity, though, and especially not the literary allusions. But, Paper Towns would also be completely appropriate for high school or adult readers.

Completely appropriate and totally entertaining and thought-provoking.