Paper Towns
Encyclopedia
Paper Towns is the third young adult novel by John Green, published in October 2008 by Dutton Books. It debuted at number 5 on the New York Times bestseller list for children's books and was awarded the 2009 Edgar Award
for best Young Adult novel.
A few weeks before high school graduation, Margo appears at Quentin’s window in the middle of the night. She asks him to accompany her on an all-nighter of pranks. Margo is on a litany of revenge that includes spray paint, blackmail, and breaking into Sea World. Quentin thinks that this night will bring him and Margo together again as friends. However, Margo runs away after their adventures.
Quentin turns to his friends Radar and Ben, and to Margo’s friend, Lacey, for help in an attempt to find her. They find clues in Margo's room that lead to an abandoned strip mall
. Quentin fears that Margo may have committed suicide. They eventually skip their high school graduation and go on a cross-country trip to find or “save her" after Quentin finds a comment on an Omnictionary post about Agloe, New York
, a copyright trap or "paper town." Quentin believes that Margo has left clues in a volume of Walt Whitman
’s Leaves of Grass
in the hopes that he will find her. They find Margo in Agloe and she reveals to Quentin that the clues were not meant to help him find her but instead to show him the strip mall. Quentin leaves Agloe and says goodbye to Margo until they cross paths one day again.
A School Library Journal review said of the book, "Q is a great social outcast main character who sometimes thinks a little too much, but is completely relatable. Though we only really see Margo for the first third of the book, the clues really create her character and give us the feeling she's a complex person. Finding out who Margo is through the things she left behind was a really great way to develop her character."
Rebecca Swain, reviewing Paper Towns for the Orlando Sentinel, said, "Paper Towns has convinced me that jaded adult readers need to start raiding the Teen's section at the bookstore. Green, who grew up in Orlando and uses the city as a backdrop for the story, taps into the cadence of teenage life with sharp and funny writing, but transcends age with deeper insights."
Booklist
awarded Paper Towns a starred review, praising it as "wonderfully witty" and "deeply thoughtful and insightful".
that the movie rights to Paper Towns have been optioned by Mandate Pictures
and Mr. Mudd
. Green has completed the first draft of the screenplay.
However, on April 2, 2010, John stated on a live-streamed show it was unlikely that the film would be made due to a difference of opinions on "what makes a good movie".
The book was also released in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publishing on May 3, 2010.
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for best Young Adult novel.
Plot summary
Quentin Jacobsen is a seventeen-year-old attending an Orlando-area high school. He has been in love with his childhood best friend, Margo, his entire life. Quentin is an intelligent boy and Margo has a reputation for being tough and cool. When they were nine years old, he and Margo shared a discovery that changed their lives forever. While walking through a park, they found the body of a man named Robert Joyner who had killed himself. Since that night, he and Margo went separate ways. Fortunately, Quentin’s parents are therapists and other than that tragedy long ago, Quentin has lived a balanced and well-adjusted life with few risks and little drama.A few weeks before high school graduation, Margo appears at Quentin’s window in the middle of the night. She asks him to accompany her on an all-nighter of pranks. Margo is on a litany of revenge that includes spray paint, blackmail, and breaking into Sea World. Quentin thinks that this night will bring him and Margo together again as friends. However, Margo runs away after their adventures.
Quentin turns to his friends Radar and Ben, and to Margo’s friend, Lacey, for help in an attempt to find her. They find clues in Margo's room that lead to an abandoned strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
. Quentin fears that Margo may have committed suicide. They eventually skip their high school graduation and go on a cross-country trip to find or “save her" after Quentin finds a comment on an Omnictionary post about Agloe, New York
Agloe, New York
Agloe, New York is a fictional place that became an actual landmark.In the 1930s, General Drafting Company founder Otto G. Lindberg and an assistant, Ernest Alpers, assigned an anagram of their initials to a dirt-road intersection in the Catskill Mountains: New York Route 206 and Morton Hill Road,...
, a copyright trap or "paper town." Quentin believes that Margo has left clues in a volume of Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
’s Leaves of Grass
Leaves of Grass
Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman . Though the first edition was published in 1855, Whitman spent his entire life writing Leaves of Grass, revising it in several editions until his death...
in the hopes that he will find her. They find Margo in Agloe and she reveals to Quentin that the clues were not meant to help him find her but instead to show him the strip mall. Quentin leaves Agloe and says goodbye to Margo until they cross paths one day again.
Characters
- Quentin "Q" Jacobsen - The main character and protagonist of the novel. Throughout the novel, Quentin follows the clues he suspects are left for him by Margo, his missing neighbor.
- Margo Roth Spiegelman - Quentin's love interest and next door neighbor; she disappears, prompting Quentin, Radar, Ben, and Lacey to go on a road trip, missing graduation to find her. She plans out adventures for herself in a black notebook and says that the real fun is in making the plans. Margo and Quentin attend the same high school but do not hang out together at school.
- Marcus "Radar" Lincoln - One of Q's best friends, he constantly edits Omnictionary (a website not unlike WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
). His parents own the world's largest collection of black Santas. He goes on adventures with Quentin to find Margo. Radar is in the school band with Ben.
- Ben Starling - He is one of Quentin's best friends. He goes with Quentin to find Margo.
- Jason "Jase" Worthington- Captain of the football team and Margo's boyfriend. Quentin has never been a fan of Jason, who later befriends Ben after a party in which both Ben and Quentin become popular in the eyes of the school.
- Lacey Pemberton - Margo's friend since Kindergarten (though Margo thinks Lacey has been undermining her) and Ben's girlfriend for roughly the second half of the novel. She goes with Quentin to find Margo.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly noted that, "The title, which refers to unbuilt subdivisions and "copyright trap" towns that appears on maps but don't exist, unintentionally underscores the novel's weakness: both milquetoast Q and self-absorbed Margo are types, not fully dimensional characters." They also commented that the novel is "another teen pleasing read." Kirkus Reviews praised the novel as "a winning combination".A School Library Journal review said of the book, "Q is a great social outcast main character who sometimes thinks a little too much, but is completely relatable. Though we only really see Margo for the first third of the book, the clues really create her character and give us the feeling she's a complex person. Finding out who Margo is through the things she left behind was a really great way to develop her character."
Rebecca Swain, reviewing Paper Towns for the Orlando Sentinel, said, "Paper Towns has convinced me that jaded adult readers need to start raiding the Teen's section at the bookstore. Green, who grew up in Orlando and uses the city as a backdrop for the story, taps into the cadence of teenage life with sharp and funny writing, but transcends age with deeper insights."
Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
awarded Paper Towns a starred review, praising it as "wonderfully witty" and "deeply thoughtful and insightful".
Film adaptation
John Green announced on his vlogVlog
Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging or vidding or vidblogging is a form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Web television. Entries often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take...
that the movie rights to Paper Towns have been optioned by Mandate Pictures
Mandate Pictures
Mandate Pictures was originally an independent film entertainment studio, founded in 2003. Today, Mandate Pictures is a full-service production and financing company, acquired by Lionsgate in 2007. Mandate continues to operate as an independent brand delivering commercial and independent films...
and Mr. Mudd
Mr. Mudd
Mr. Mudd is a film production company founded by Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith.Mr. Mudd currently has a first-look deal with Mandate Pictures. Notable films produced by Mr. Mudd include Juno, Which Way Home, Ghost World, The Dancer Upstairs, Abel, Art School Confidential, How to...
. Green has completed the first draft of the screenplay.
However, on April 2, 2010, John stated on a live-streamed show it was unlikely that the film would be made due to a difference of opinions on "what makes a good movie".
Other editions
The paperback edition of the novel was released on September 22, 2009.The book was also released in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publishing on May 3, 2010.