Sweet, I finished 4 books in January! Off to a good start, and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them so far. Paper Towns is a young adult novel that has been on my list for quite some time, and came highly recommended by a number of coworkers. As luck would have it, I found a copy hanging out at my library last week, and I nabbed it up along with about 5 other books I am excited to dive into!
This is a great coming of age novel about a senior high school boy who has always had a thing for his mysterious next door neighbor, who happens to rule the school. Quentin, or "Q" as his friends call him, is a fringe player on the high school stage, he has friends but isn't popular, and is smart and quiet and ready to go to college and grow up. Margo, meanwhile, is the most popular girl in school, with a propensity for disappearing for days at a time, leaving "clues" to her whereabout that her parents never were able to interpret.
One night, Margo shows up at Q's window, demanding that he come with her on a night of adventure and intrigue. Though hesitant, Q can't resist the idea of a whole night with Margo, and ultimately has one of the best nights of his life.
Margo promptly disappears. What follows is the story of Q and his friends trying to track her down by a series of clues she has left in her wake, and what happens when you stop thinking about someone for the way the project themselves to be, and really step in their shoes. Q has to stop putting Margo on a pedestal to find her, and has to challenge how he interacts with all the people in his life.
It is a good read, though I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more several years ago when I was closer in age to the characters. I really liked how Greene lets his characters face very real problems and situations with candidness and realism, rather than anything terribly over the top and fraught. It is very true to life.
No comments:
Post a Comment