Paper Towns Response

Book Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Year of Publication: 2008
Number of Pages: 305
AR Points Awarded: 13.0

Literary Elements
Narrator - It is written in first person from Quentin’s point of view. “‘Margo,’ I said, ‘we’re in SeaWorld.’” p. 75
Protagonist - The protagonist is Quentin, who is a slightly nerdy and awkward high school boy who has a huge crush on Margo Roth Spiegelman, who is basically the queen of their school. He is very funny and likable. “I laughed awkwardly, then walked over and knelt by the window, my face inches from hers [Margo’s]. I couldn’t imagine why she was here, in my window, like this.” p. 25
Antagonist - The closest thing to an antagonist is probably Margo. She didn’t intentionally do anything wrong, but in leaving, she became the main problem in this book, because Q became obsessed with finding her. “‘Well,’ she said, ‘it seems that Margo has run away. Again.’ She sighed. ‘This would be -- what is it, Josh, the fourth time?’” p. 101
Setting - Most of the book takes place in Orlando, Florida either at school or at Q or his friends’ houses. Toward the end, it takes place on the road, and in Agloe, New York. “From above, Orlando was pretty well lit. Beneath us I could see the flashing DON’T WALK signs at intersections, and the street-lights running up and down the city in a perfect grid until downtown ended and the winding streets and cul-de-sacs of Orlando’s infinite suburb started.” p. 56
Conflict - The conflict is kind of man v. man, with Q against Margo, but Q’s not really fighting against Margo. He’s more fighting against everyone who tells him that he can’t find Margo, or that he should give it up. He had to fight against his perceptions of Margo in order to find her. “Margo Roth Spiegelman was a person, too...someone who--because no one thought she was a person--had no one to really talk to.” p. 199
Theme - The theme of this book is about growing up and finding yourself. Quentin and Margo both grow up a lot over the course of the book. It’s fun to be a kid, but it’s important to mature sometime and realize what life is about and to accept others for who they are. “‘...each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen--these people leave us, or don’t love us, or don’t get us, or we don’t get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places...But there is all this time between when the cracks open up and when we finally fall apart. And it’s only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs.’” p. 302
Historical Context - This book makes reference to Walt Whitman a lot, especially his poem “Song of Myself” from Leaves of Grass. “It was the Penguin Classics version of the first edition of Leaves of Grass....There were several quotes highlighted in blue, all from the epically long poem known as ‘Song of Myself.’” p. 115-116

Reflection
I really enjoyed Paper Towns. It was very intriguing and unpredictable. I liked how the author made the characters change and grow throughout the book, and it was fun to see the change in them. I probably identified with Margo most. She kind of puts on a front, but she wants someone to figure out the real her and know that she’s not so happy and bubbly on the inside constantly. She’s just a regular girl. It didn’t remind me of any other book I’ve ever read. It was very unique, and that is part of what I liked about it. It would make a good movie because the characters are likable, and there is a lot of fun action. I would recommend this book to anyone. It didn’t end the way I expected. I expected Q and Margo to end up together. However, I like the author’s ending better than the way I expected it to end.