A review by Nalini Haynes
A review by Nalini HaynesQuentin Jacobsen — Q to his friends — is a band-geek whose musical abilities prohibit him actually joining the band. He grew up living next door to Margot Roth Speigelman, the queen of high school, whose exploits are famous. When they were 9, they discovered a suicide together. Now they’re finishing high school, Margot enlists Q to join her on a muck-up-day spree — a month early.
Margot disappears.
Q sets out to solve the mystery of Margot, the ripples of which change school dymanics.
Before Margot disappears, she tells Q that Orlando, Florida, is a paper town full of paper people. That what people obsess about doesn’t matter. That it’s all artificial.
She leaves clues incorporating music — including a Woody Guthrie poster — and a book of Walt Whitman’s poetry.
(One wonders if Walter White is Breaking Bad‘s Willy Loman [Loman is ‘everyman’ from Death of a Salesman, a play I studied in year 10], inspired by Walt Whitman? Because we’re all interconnected grass hair on graves. I digress and yet it’s relevant: Paper Towns did done eddycumate me on this thing called litterature. Paper Towns and Belzhar have inspired me to read Sylvia Plath… someone save me from interesting fiction incorporating litchachewure. And to whomever inspired me to read the Bronte sisters when I was a young adult instead of this other, more interesting stuff: if I could remember who you are, I would force feed you Wuthering Heights and Vilette.)
Paper Towns is a young adult novel exploring issues and Literature while posing a mystery to engage the reader. It’s a little angsty and realistic for some but Catcher in the Rye it ain’t, it’s far more readable. Highly recommended.
[Grammar Nazis beware: breaking the rules in this review was a choice; if you comment to correct my grammar, be sure your comments don’t require editing! >:-]
— Nalini]
Rating: 
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
ISBN: 9781460700273
ISBN 10: 1460700279
Format: paperback, 368 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins
