Paper Towns

A coming of age, young adult book called Paper Towns, by the widely popular author John Green, two of which were great RA Favorite Books (Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Out Stars).   Hummm, I guess I never really connected with the “disconnected” heroine, Margo, whom leads the protagonist Quentin on a wild chase to see if she was alive or not.  Now back to the story… the two lead characters are next door neighbors whom connect when they find a murdered man on one of the side streets at the age of 9.  Fast forward to senior year in high school when the two have grown apart in friend groups and commonalities and then a knock on Quentin’s window at midnight a month before graduation day…..  what would Margo want of him?  Well, she begs him to join her on a midnight frolicking around the neighborhood to avenge her former boyfriend and other members in her friend group for betraying her with wild antics (spray painting a car’s rooftop, catching her boyfriend – with pants down – having sex with her other friend, and removing one eyebrow of Quentin’s bully, to name a few).  After the night of revenge, Margo disappears from home.  Was it her fourth time running away or a final dance with a suicide plunge?  The days and nights leading up to graduation, Quentin and his team of friends try to uncover clues that Margo has seemingly left behind.  The final 24 hours of the search involves driving from Orlando (the home town setting for this novel) and the imaginary town Algoe (the ‘paper town’) – a cool concept the author uses.  The final scene brings all together for one last “showdown.”  Was it too late?  Does Quentin’s high-school infatuation finally come true?  Yeah, this is a young adult book with lots of messages, but was it a bit over the top to connect the “paper town” concept for a young adult who is searching for her own meaning and proving she herself is the ‘paper town,’ a fake?  The two journey parts of the book are totally griping, the rest… and the ending…. To each their own, I’d say.  Left me a bit unsatisfied, though the writing is quite good.