Mirthe Visscher 3G2

Paper Towns

Paper Towns

John Green

Dutton Books

2008

Title

The title gets mentioned in the book itself a lot. A paper town is a non-existing town, that map makers used to put in their maps as a form of copyright. When they saw their made-up city’s on someone else’s map, they knew it was copied. Sometimes people start building houses on the places of the fake places, and it becomes an actual place. Agloe, the place were Margo goes to when she runs away from home, is one of those places. Most of the time those “towns” are just an old farm.

The name also gets another meaning in the book. When Margo and Q are on their nighttime adventure, Margo talks about the fact that she hates their city. She says it’s a fake city, a paper town, with paper houses and paper people. Everything seems pretty and good on the outside, but they are fake.

It’s really hard to think of another title, because this title suits the story so perfectly in multiple ways. One title I would be okay with as well is: Real Margo. I think it’s straight to the point, this is what the book’s about; finding (the real) Margo.

                        Characters

Quentin Jacobsen

            Quentin is the main character and the protagonist. His nickname is Q, everyone of his friends calls him that. He is 17 years old and is a pretty quiet, introvert boy. He’s not really outgoing, and loves gaming with his close friends. The only thing he really wants, is getting attention from his crush, Margo. He was close friends with her when they were little, they’re neighbors, but know she’s popular and they don’t really talk anymore.

Margo Roth Spiegelman

            Margo is a pretty, popular girl, that seems really happy and spontaneous. There are a lot of rumors about her, all telling amazing, cool stories about her. Like the one where she runs away from home to join the circus, or one where she convinces a security guard at a concert that she’s the girlfriend of the drummer. But inside she’s depressed, and the spontaneous girl is just a mask. She says she’s fake, paper, so she must live in a paper town; A paper town for a paper girl.

Radar Lincoln

            His real name is Marcus, but nobody actually calls him that. He is a calm guy, and a close friend of Q. He has a girlfriend, and spends most of his time making and editing of articles on Omnictionary, a site that’s similar to Wikipedia.

Ben Starling

            Ben is Q’s other friend, he’s the more crazy, outgoing friend. He wants to get popular, and have a cute girlfriend, but it’s not really working out for him. He may seem a little selfish and rude sometimes, but when Q needs him he’s ready to help.

Lacey Pemberton

            Lacey is Margo’s friend, even though Margo thinks she hates her. She’s a popular girl, that goes to all the parties and just enjoys her high school years. She doesn’t really talk to the three guys, but when they need to find Margo she comes with them and the really start to become friends.

                        Summary

            Prolog

Q and Margo have lived next to each other since they were two years old, they were best friends and did everything together. When they are nine years old, they were playing together in a park when they discovered a body, the always curious Margo finds out that he committed suicide.

            Part 1: The Strings

Q and Margo are in their last year of high school, they will be graduating. They both have new friends and don’t really talk anymore. Margo has a boyfriend. But one night Margo climbs trough Q’s window, like she used to do when they were little. She says she needs his help with an adventure. Q still likes her, so he comes with her. The adventure consists of an entire night of sneaking around and fulfilling revenge actions. Those plans include: catching her boyfriend cheating on her with her best friend, shaving someone’s eyebrow in his sleep, hiding fishes in everyone’s houses, breaking in to seaworld, an aquarium, and sneaking into the tallest building in Orlando. On top of the building, Margo and Q have a long talk about how Margo feels like this town is a paper town, a fake town, with paper people. They have an amazing night an even though they to a lot of risky things, they never get caught, and get away everywhere. Q hopes and thinks that after this, Margo will talk to him at school, and that they’ll be friends again.

            Part 2: The Grass

When they come to school the next day, Margo is nowhere to be found. The police stopped looking for her, because she is of age. She can do what she wants. When Q is trying to find her, her parents tell him that every time she runs away, she leaves a trail of hints and clues behind. But they’re always impossible to decode. But Q is determined to find her, and starts looking for clues.

Q tells his friends about it, and together they slowly find some clues that they think Margo could’ve left. Those are things like: a poster on the back of a curtain, hidden notes in doors and marked words in poetry. Q is really scared that Margo might have killed herself, but he keeps looking. Finally he finds a hint about an paper town where they’ve build real houses, and he’s sure that she must be there.

            Part 3: The Vessel

The paper town where they think she is, is called Agloe. Q, Ben, Radar and Lacey have an road trip of almost 24 hours, and become closer and closer on that trip. When they arrive, they find out that Margo is actually in Agloe! She lives in an old farmhouse, and they are extremely happy to find her! But she’s not the bubbly, spontaneous Margo they know, she’s depressed and quiet. Lacey, Radar and Ben are really upset about it and go away, but Q stays. They have a long conversation, and Margo says that she is not going to come back to her old live, because everything there is made of paper and is fake. But she says she is paper to, and that’s why she is going to stay where she is: A paper town for a paper girl.