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| Paper Towns | 
 enlarge | Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Category: Book
List Price: $17.99
Buy New: $10.31
You Save: $7.68 (43%)
New (42) Used (13) from $10.28
Avg. Customer Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 965
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 0525478183
EAN: 9780525478188
ASIN: 0525478183
Publication Date: October 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the nightdressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revengehe follows her. Margos 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 theyre 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 The Compulsive Reader's Reviews October 2, 2008
23 out of 27 found this review helpful
To everyone who surrounds Margo Roth Spiegelman, she is an adventurous, unconventional, and intelligent person and a highly admired someone that everyone puts on a pedestal. So when Margo sneaks into Quentin Jacobsen's room one glorious night and involves him in her crazy exploits, he can't help but feel as if a new page has been turned, and just maybe he can be a part of the marvelous Margo's life.
But the next morning all of Quentin's hopes are dashed with Margo's disappearance. Her parents and the police think this is just another one of her stunts, but Q's not so sure. Because Margo has left him a string of clues, one right after another, which just might lead him to her. But the thing is, he's not sure what he'll find.
John Green brings readers another surprising, witty, and fully honest book in Paper Towns. His writing is captivating from the very beginning as multitudes of details, no mater how large of small, flow seamlessly together. Green has a knack for highlighting the little distinguishing factors that make us human, making for more believable characters and completely enthralling book.
The mystery in Paper Towns is clever, and will leave readers scratching their heads as Q and his friends struggle to piece together the clues with some frustration and tons of humor. But the teens are just as quick to get serious as they contemplate what has actually happened to Margo and as Quentin especially comes to see her in a completely different light with a little help from the poetry of Walt Whitman.
Though Paper Towns did slow down a little bit in the middle of the book as Quentin hits a brick wall in his search, this novel is suspenseful, hilarious, and quirky, and especially appealing to the well read teen. The characters are as real as your own friends, and teens can't help but see pieces of their own lives in this amazingly candid book. Read at your own risk though--Green's works are completely addictive, and once you start, it's impossible to stop.
 Do not fall for an illusion..... October 31, 2008
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
Once again, I seem to have a minority opinion about a book. I am a high school librarian and I am also the school nurse so I think I know teenagers pretty well. The plot: male teen (Quentin) obsessed (infatuated) with next door neighbor (Margo Roth Spiegelman) goes through incredible lengths to find her after she disappears. He believes he finds clues that she has left for HIM so that he alone will be able to track her down and "rescue" her. He enlists the help of his friends in this search, all the while worried about this girl he has never had a relationship with beyond a grade school friendship.
Although the teens in the story did, at times, act like typical high school seniors, exhibit teen humor and antics -- the entire scenario was implausible and did not reflect the emotions, activities, and obsessions typical of any 17 year old boy I've ever seen. I checked out my thoughts on this with one of my students -- a fairly typical 17 year old soccer player who also found it difficult to believe the male character's actions and motivations. This book did not ring true on the most fundamental levels - it was pretty unrealistic and sort of pathetic that this boy fancies himself on a noble quest and sees himself as a hero, ultimately, hopefully to her. Unrequited teen infatuation, angst, drama, a car trip -- all of it hard to swallow.
The novel started off to be entertaining but then it seemed to dwindle into tediousness. The overly long focus on the words and analysis of Leaves of Grass, and the plodding and painstaking descriptions of all the search attempts left me bored and impatient. Many times I just wanted it all to be over with and was tempted to just read the ending. I kept going hoping that the conclusion would be so astounding as to redeem the rest of the filler. It didn't. The last few chapters were just ........completely unbelievable.
I did learn something very interesting that I did not know, and that was the definition and explanation of the term "Paper Town."
The morals of this story: Stop imagining positive qualities and characteristics of people you don't really know. They aren't worth it. Get to know the real person and see people how they really are, not the way you want them to be. Do not fall for an illusion.
Recommendation: Borrow, don't buy.
Charming and clever October 9, 2008
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
Paper Towns was a pleasure to read.
It's littered with charm, pop culture, banter, and mystic.
I have to say I was so tempted to turn to page 305 and see what happened in the end because every page was a gripping suspense.
What happened to Margo?
I wanted to know.
But I restrained myself and reading without knowing the outcome was more rewarding.
There are some truths in this book that ring so true for my life and struggles with friends and high school that it could have been my own life, there, on the pages. But it wasn't. Instead it was a story that left me with goosebumps. Besides, my life could never be quite as clever. :P
There were some parts that I was unimpressed with. The emphasis of Walt Whitman's poem was very overplayed. I especially hated the fact that I was spoon fed it's meaning as it fit to the book. I found there was a too heavy reliance on 'Song of Myself'. It made the story drag.
However, the character interactions, the laugh out loud wit of dialog, and the quirky bits of a true imagination redeemed the book.
So I recommend it. In fact. I recommend all of Mr. Green's novels because he's truly brilliant. :)
Go Green for a great read. October 13, 2008
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
I know there a couple of months left in 2008, but Paper Towns gets my vote for best YA book of the year. John Green wrote a book that celebrates literature and the impact it has on those who read it, digest it, and learn to connect with it. Forget the YA tag-this book reaches adults as well.
This insightful, introspective, and ironic page-turning mystery entertains and educates simultaneously. Quentin is a hero to cheer for and Margo is a heroine to hope for. As for the mystery, well, see if you can solve it before Q does.
not my favorite November 15, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a hard review to write because I am such a fan of John Green. I loved Looking for Alaska and Abundance of Katherines is one of my favorite all time books--so of course I was excited to be able to review this book.
I'm sorry to say, I just never got hooked into this story. Most of all because I never could get into the main character--I just didn't feel a strong voice from him, he had no unique personality, and I never felt a reason to care about him. The other problem was his mission--he suddenly turns his whole life upside down to chase after a girl he has barely spoken to in almost 10 years. I just didn't get it. I also didn't get what was so great about her that he would need to chase her--I never felt the bond that he supposedly had for her.
As for the other characters in the book, the only one I really liked--the only one that felt real--was Radar. He was interesting and well drawn. The rest were just stereotypes or unreal. Ben, his other best friend, was completely ridiculous with his honeybunnies and ginormous balls. Give me a break. Why mega-popular Lacey would even fall for him was completely unbelievable. Q's parents were also one-dimensional. Every scene with the parents was just something like 'we love you' or 'we think you're great'. I never saw him do anything great--do they never not get along?
I hate to be so negative because Green is such a wonderful writer. There were many great lines in this book like when they blast their car stereo and open the windows so everyone will know what great taste in music they have--that is so perfectly teen. I also loved learning about "paper towns" a term I've never heard of.
Anyway, judging by the other reviews I am obviously in the minority in my opinion but there it is.
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