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Paper Towns Summary and Review by Swapnil

 


    John Green is a name that you probably have heard of. I actually only knew John Green because of his hilariously funny but informational crash course videos. These videos were made in a way that was informational but also not boring at all. When I saw famous books on the shelves such as “The Fault in our Stars” and “Turtles All the Way Down”, and saw that the author's name was John Green I never realized that this was the same man who taught history videos on YouTube. Since I thought that John was a funny and really cool guy, I picked up “The Fault in our Stars” expecting to read something relating to his crash course videos. I was heavily mistaken. Due to this, I picked up Paper Towns and so here is my summary and review of the book.

The story starts off by introducing the main character of the book, Quentin, an obedient and intelligent adolescent who spends his time with his two geeky closest friends. Like all romance stories he had a crush on a girl who he sees all the time, Margo. Margo is a very loud/extroverted individual who believes in living life to the fullest. She goes missing one, leaving clues for Quentin to find her. This signals the start of Quentin's protracted search for Margo. Quentin, who hangs out with the band nerds, is able to restore order to the high school social structure during his quest for Margo and has won some respect from the popular crowd. Because Margo is the center of Quentin's existence, he is more consumed with locating her than his friends are. The story is about Quentin’s exploration and his trying desperately to find Margo. 

As I mentioned in the intro, I was surprised to see this type of genre written by John. It was even weirder for me that almost all of his books had something to do with romance, but also real-life problems regarding teens. If you follow the vlogbrothers on youtube, which is a channel about Hank and John Green telling explaining their life stories, you may have come across a recent video called My Religion and My Banned Books. This video was made by John explaining a part of his life and his history of writing books. I think that this book is really good as it has this realistic problem but also a fiction twist to it. I am usually not into this type of genre and more into sci-fi or fantasy, but if you are looking for a young adult fiction then I would recommend this book to you.


Comments

  1. Claire HobsonMay 9, 2022 at 6:54 AM

    Great post Swapnil! I really liked how you explained the author and why the author being John Green made you read this book. I didn't know that he wrote books! I might pick this book up sometime, good job - Claire Hobson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Max BoltonMay 9, 2022 at 7:58 AM

    I still remember when the movie came out not too long ago. I also never knew John Green was a great author. I thought he just did Crash Course History on YouTube. Those videos really bring back some pleasant memories like not failing middle school history. Although I have watched the movie, I have not read the book. However, due to your review, I feel the book is somewhat different from the movie and that just makes me want to read it even more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hannah SongMay 9, 2022 at 9:30 AM

    I did not know that John Green wrote books! I also think it's interesting that he would go down this route and write a teenage contemporary romance. I really enjoy romance books, so I might just pick this one up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Larissa DolcosMay 12, 2022 at 6:43 AM

    Great post Swap! I also had no idea that John Green was an author, that's so cool. I enjoyed how you explained both the book and why you decided to read it. Nice job!

    ReplyDelete
  5. PieterMay 13, 2022 at 6:41 AM

    I have heard of John Green books like turtles all the way down, but I never knew it was actually the guy from the crash course videos. This guy seems to be involved in everything. It is very hard to conceive. This book sounds interesting, though. Good job swappy nilly!

    ReplyDelete
  6. fabi♡May 15, 2022 at 3:11 PM

    Unlike most people in the comment section, I actually only knew John Green as an author and didn't know he made videos.I've read turtles all the way down before and thought it was a great book so I'll be sure to check this, and his videos, out! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ansh SinghMay 16, 2022 at 6:47 AM

    I know of John Green, and I had no idea he was a writer as well. Sounds like an interesting book, where Quentin has to go looking for missing Margo.

    ReplyDelete

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