This book starts about one week before the finals exams in grade twelve, and follows the character Quentin Jacobsen. Not a total loser, just a normal guy that’s not part of the “in crowd”. He is accompanied by two interesting friends, Ben and Radar.
Ben is a small Asian guy that is crazy for girls but some unfortunate events cause his chances of getting a girlfriend to become slim. He is an outrageous character. Radar is a tall African American; he is the more mature one in the trio, and he acts as their common sense. He is all around a nice guy – too bad he’s haunted by a dark family secret (which has to do with ancient Christian traditions), lol.
One night, Margo – Quentin’s former friend/high school crush/queen of the school- shows up at his window and takes him on the wildest adventure he has ever had. The next day she disappears.
Soon Quentin realizes that Margo has ran away from home many times before and always left messages for people to find her. Not long after, he discovers a series of messages and goes on a quest to find her, and he even gets his buddies to help.
As they discover information, the book makes the transition from funny and light hearted to dark, depressing, and philosophical.
Like any story about a trio of high school guys, it concludes with a hilarious rode trip. The difference is that this road trip is an intense race against time and a life is on the line.
This is a book that 90% of teenage guys can relate to, but that teenage girls will enjoy it too. It’s a real eye opener and causes people to view life in a new way. I can honestly say that this book is one of the best, if not the best, books I’ve ever read.
To get a clear idea of what this book is like, I want you to imagine a deep deep story about mortality, and humanity, through the eyes of a teenager. Now I want you to mix that with the movie Superbad. And there you have it, Paper Towns by John Green.
Please, Read This!
