I LOVE breaks from school, and I love reading. I feel like the break is complete when I am able to read several books. The book, Paper Towns by John Green, was my last book of the break. I have mixed feelings and emotions about this book. If any of you have read this book I would love to hear your reactions.
When they published the book in 2008 the publishers published it with two slightly different covers. Now that I have read the book I think it is really cool that they did. There is a message of seeking to understand the complexity of others is harder than we think. Quentin lives across from Margo (pictured on the cover) their entire lives. They are great friends when they are younger, but then drift apart in high school. Q has had a crush on Margo for most of high school. However, most boys at the high school have b/c she is the super elite unattainable girl that every guy would love to have. However, one night Margo shows up at Q's window and they set out on a night full of pranks. It is what happens after that night that throws Q and the rest of the high school in a loop.
Paper Towns is a mystery/realistic fiction book. John Green sticks to his own style of writing. Green does a great job of getting into a teenagers mind, but digging a little deeper. I have read Green's first book, which won the Printz (the Newberry for Young Adult (YA) books) in 2006, Looking for Alaska. The two books have very similar styles and ideas. I really enjoyed Looking for Alaska, though there was a bit of language in the book. I felt Paper Towns also had some language, especially at the beginning of the book. Sometimes I feel YA authors try too hard to write for YA's. I felt that the beginning of this book was trying a bit too hard for YA's to relate/like. It had some language and whatnot that I didn't enjoy. I actually almost put it down, but then the language and situations eased up and I was fine. I just wanted to throw that warning out to people.
My mixed feelings for the book do not come as a result of the language and talk of unnecessary things. However, my mixed feelings result from the ending. There is such build up the entire book. I felt the ending was good, it just wasn't a "Wow, that was great!" kind of ending. I found myself struggling to finish the last couple of pages b/c the ending just drug on a bit too much for me. All in all though, I did like the book. I feel it shows a lot of growth in a teenage boy. I feel that boys and girls could easily relate, and actually get a lot of "bibliotherapy" from the book if it was used right.
As always, I would love to know your thoughts. John Green also wrote An Abundance of Katherines in 2007 and received a Printz Honor for the book. I haven't read that one yet. If you have read any of Green's works please share your opinion.
On a separate note. We are on our year anniversary for the blog. When Sarah and I started the blog we had the intent of it being an online book club. However, that has changed and this site is more of a book review website. We post our opinions of books that we have read. Being a librarian, I read a plethora of books. I wish I could review all of them on here. However, if you ever have a question about a book, and I haven't reviewed it here, please feel free to ask. I'll tell you my personal and professional opinions.
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