Margos Spuren

I found this story compelling, the dialogue was excellent, the characters easy to care about and it was genuinely funny, even hilarious at times. The black santa bit was genius. I give it a 4 in general, it would be a 5 if it were just in a YA category.

I grew up outside Orlando, so I might be a little biased. I had waves of nostalgia remembering my own teen years of driving around I4, hanging out downtown and sneaking into theme parks, minus the technology, but the more I think about it, the more complex and interesting this book is.

Margot is irritatingly self- absorbed in a teenage fashion. We cannot help but shake our heads at her recklessness- maybe with a little envy. Ultimately, however she is a courageous non- conformist whose pranks and idiosyncrasies remind us that it is that same pitiable and restless angst that so characterizes our most reflective and troublesome teens that will give us a generation that will improve, create and reinvent the world.

The specter of death in the form of corpses- human and raccoon- are a great touch. It is interesting that psychology tells us that younger people fear death more than older people. Perhaps it is because they have not latched on to who or what they are and are loathe to stop before that big issue is taken care of- it is certainly an issue for the characters in Paper Towns..

I liked the Song of Myself references as well. And the title and reference to fake towns is just brilliant too. Here is a guy, I thought, who really gets teenagers. It is a little bit of a masterpiece.