Behind the Facade: Paper Towns

Margo Roth Spiegelman: Runaway. Daredevil. Legend. And Quentin Jacobsen–classmate, neighbor, geek-at-large–is in love with her.

Sure, they’ve been friends since they were kids. But Margo has always been the instigator of schemes, the quasi-evil genius, and Quentin her loyal sidekick. Even that day when they were nine and they found the body in the park, Margo was the one to approach it. And now that they’re seniors–even though Margo is undeniably a part of school lore, while Quentin is merely a nerdy footnote–Quentin finds himself drawn into Margo’s orbit once again. But after a wild night of vengeful pranks and sneaking around public property with Margo, Quentin arrives at school to find that Margo has implemented the ultimate adventurous scheme.

Although Quentin’s hero-worship is enough to make anybody exhausted, his two quirky and amusing best friends–the “honeybunny”-chasing Ben and the wiki-addicted Radar–are loyal enough to go along for the ride, and as a reader I was happy to ride along, too. Like John Green’s other novels, Paper Towns layers humor with emotional depth and intellectual breadth, and doesn’t talk down to teen readers.

Buy this book from an independent bookstore near you!

About the author

Sarah Jamila Stevenson is a writer, artist, editor, graphic designer, proofreader, and localization QA tester, so she wears a teetering pile of hats. On any given day, she is very tired. She is the author of the middle grade graphic novel Alexis vs. Summer Vacation, and three YA novels, including the award-winning The Latte Rebellion.

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