Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-525-47818-8
Pages: 305
Why I choose this particular book: We have a teen book club at my library and I partner with a teacher from the local high school to run it. She choose The Fault in Our Stars by John Green as, I believe, May's book choice. I really enjoyed that book and began reading everything by John Green. I saw this at my library and checked it out.
Started reading: June 23, 2012 at 11:09 PM
Finished reading: June 25, 2012 at 11:58 PM
This book has everything a reader of Green's expects: a sensitive, clever protagonist; a girl on a mission; a fantastic supporting cast; and fun, witty dialog.
Q (short for Quentin) leads a quiet life of school, hanging out with friends, and playing the video game Resurrection. Except for one childhood trauma, Q's had a pretty 'normal' life until Margo, the girl next door, comes barging through his window at night a few weeks before they graduate high school. She convinces Q to help her take a bit of well-planned and excellently executed revenge out on some ex-friends of hers and then she disappears. Q gets caught up in trying to follow the clues Margo left behind in order to find her and bring her home. He's helped in his mission by his best friends - Ben and Radar.
Q is a great character, almost too good to be believable but still very relatable. You go along with him as he looks for Margo and you can feel what he's feeling. This story, the quest for Margo, is a coming of age for Q. He comes out of his shell, learns about himself and how he fits into the world. Q discovers some aspects of himself he didn't know where there. He stands up for himself, helps those around him, becomes a better friend, and begins to think about the world differently.
Ben is... well, Ben. He tries to be a super hip kinda guy with a sort of motor mouth but he's so sweet. He's the comedy relief in a lot of moments throughout the story (beer sword, Dreidel) and his hijinks made me laugh out loud a few times. Radar (real name Marcus) is kind of a geek who loves to patrol pages in an online user-created information hub known as Omnictionary. He's embarrassed by the fact that his parents have one of the largest collections of Black Santas in the world. These three are eventually joined on their quest by Lacey, an ex-friend of Margo's and now Ben's girlfriend, who's a fun addition to the boys.
The whole story is engaging and really pulls you in. I love John Green's writing style as well as the intelligence behind what he's saying. You can actually learn something by reading his books. This book featured Song of Myself by Walt Whitman. While being used as a plot device, a clue left by Margo, Green manages to break down the poem and give the reader some of Whitman's meaning. It's interesting to see a young adult novel integrating what, to most teens, is probably a homework assignment and not only using it in the story but also offering an explanation of the poem. Green also teaches his readers about paper towns. Apparently they were a tool used by cartographers as a copyright trap to catch copyright abusers. These were fake towns plotted on maps which, should they appear on a rival cartographer's map, indicated whether the second cartographer was copying the work of the first. I'd never heard about this and, being the absolute nerd I am, found it a very interesting bit of trivia.
The end of the book is a page-turner. I couldn't stop reading. The section is broken down into hour chunks as the group zeroes in on Margo's location. It's a crazy road trip with lots of hazards along the way. The foursome deal with strict time limitations, a decided lack of normal clothes for two of them, runaway cows, choreographed rest stops, and the trials of Ben's small bladder.
This author is addicting so I'm warning you now - pick up this book and you will need to read all the rest of Green's books!
Similar Reads:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Have your tissues ready!)
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Math has never been so fun)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (Dark and amazing)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Read the book before watching the movie - this book is fantastic!)
Links to More Information:
John Green
Paper Towns
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Paper towns
Discussion:
For those who've read any of John Green's books- are you a fan? What's you most/least favorite? Have you ever gone on a crazy adventure? Do you think young adult novels have a wider audience than just teens? Let me know in the comments!
I have only read Paper Towns, and I agree it was a great book. I have on my TBR Looking for Alaska and Abundance of Katherines. I think I'll read The Fault in our Stars - though I worry about how sad it will be, but everything I've heard about how good it is makes me think it's probably worth it.
ReplyDeleteYA novels definitely have a wider audience than just teens. I think books with quite mature, or even universal themes, get labeled YA just because the protagonists are teens. In any good novel (except certain genres) the protagonist must make some character growth. If the character just stays still and doesn't go anywhere, do anything or learn something about himself or the world it would be a pretty terrible novel- no matter the age. When it happens to be a teenager - we call it "coming of age" and stamp YA on it. I think this is a disservice to many fantastic books that are worthy of a wider audience, but don't get picked up by adults who don't go into the YA sections of libraries and bookstores.
I agree with you 100% about YA books having a wider appeal than just teens. I recommend YA books to adults all the time and usually get good feedback.
DeleteLike I said above, have tissues ready when you read Fault! I promise you that book is sad but well worth the read.
All I've been reading lately (aside from the 50 Shades series) has been classified as YA. I have heard mention of The Fault in Our Stars, but not anything as to what it's about, just that it is good. Now that I know the author's name, and that you have recommended it, I will be sure to add it to my list.
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds like a good story too.
As an aside, the book you lent me a while back, The Future of Us- I read his other book, 13 Reasons Why- OMG! It sucked me in! I started it at lunch on Monday and was finished it Tuesday night!
Jenny, you will enjoy Fault. I know I gushed in my main review but Green is a really great author.
DeleteTh1rteen R3asons Why was so good! I felt bad that Clay was included in Hannah's reasons. In fact, Hannah kind of annoyed me but that didn't take away from the book at all. And the ending was wonderful. My teen book club read R3asons and we had a great discussion about suicide, the signs, and alternative choices/seeking help. It was one of the more in depth talks we had.