Summary: Seventeen-year-old Quentin Jacobsen grew up next door to his ideal girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman. One night, just a few short weeks before high school graduation, Margo shows up at Quentin's window, ninja-style. She takes him on a grand late-night adventure, and then mysteriously vanishes. Quentin, with the help of his friends Ben and Radar, attempt to unravel the mystery that is Margo Roth Spiegelman. All the while figuring out what it means to really know someone.
Thoughts: I had discovered John Green through his YouTube channel that he shares with his brother. From there, I read his first novel Looking for Alaska. I had begun a quest to read all of his novels. I found his writing style to be much more like natural speech, which I believe makes it very easy to read. It's much easier, with his novels, to focus on the story instead of the words. And although he writes Young Adult novels, I do not believe there is actually some sort of upper age limit to his writing. I think just about anyone can take something away from his novels that alters one's views of the world. Paper Towns left me wondering if I really know the people I associate myself with. "What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person." This book has given me a greater understanding of what it really means to know someone. And as a writer, I believe it has given me a way of creating stronger, more realistic characters for my stories. I was not at all disappointed with this book, and believe that I will read it again in the future.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Publisher: Speak
Publication Year: 2009
ISBN: 978-0-14-241493-4
Author Website: http://johngreenbooks.com
is the first installment in a series of 5 novels that follows a young half-blood (half human, half Greek god) named Percy Jackson.