Paper Towns

This was an interesting read that really speaks to the growing up process - how the end of high school is a culmination of events really define us as teenagers. The actions and adventures of the plot are what we wish our last moments in high school were like. There is such a build-up that the end can often feel like a letdown - but Quentin, Radar, Ben and Lacey found adventure. More importantly, I think they found themselves.

Like the rest of my classmates mentioned, I loved Ben, Radar and Quentin. These characters are quirky and flawed and remind me so much of myself and my friends in high school. I really related to these boys who could talk a big talk when it came to "experience" but were unafraid to knight friends with a beer can sword, obsessively check Omnictionary, or be in the school band. They were really heartening characters, who through their adventures in search of Margo, learned something important about themselves.

In reading the book, I found it so interesting how several of the adults in the novel - the detective, Quentin's parents - give subtle hints to the fact that Margo may not want to be found. Unfortunately, Quentin and his friends don't listen. I think this important for adults to understand about their children - coming to the realization on our own has more meaning than being told to believe it is so. Quentin and the others have to realize that Margo was nothing like they thought she was, and that it's okay. Quentin is finally able to see her as a person, a person like everyone else who has faults and flaws and makes mistakes. Through this understanding, he is better able to accept Ben for who he is. As Radar puts it, "You keep expecting people not to be themselves. I mean, I could hate you for being massively unpunctual and for never being interested in anything other than Margo Roth Spiegelman, and for, like, never asking me about how it's going with my girlfriend - but I don't give a shit, man, because you're you. My parents have a shit ton of black Santas, but that's okay. They're them. I'm too obsessed with a reference Web site to answer my phone sometimes when my friends call, or my girlfriend. That's okay, too. That's me. You like me anyway. And I like you. You're funny, and you're smart, and you may show up late, but you always show up eventually."

Most of the rest of my classmates have spoken to the fact they disliked Margo as a character and felt she was only crucial in terms of advancing the plot. While I agree that Margo does things that don't make you instantly warm to her, I feel like I understand her motives for acting the way she does. Margo and everyone around her has built up an image of Margo Roth Spiegelman. But none of these things is the real her. As Cary Grant once said, "No one can be Cary Grant, not even Cary Grant." I feel like this sentiment is true in relation to Margo. She is like an untouchable celebrity, unbelievable and unimaginable to even her friends. That is not an easy life to live or an image that is easy to follow. What is a person to do when she has been built up to the status of a God? You can either self-destruct under the pressure, like a lot of celebrities do, or you escape. And Margo chose to escape, to start over and try to be a more authentic Margo Roth Spiegelman. While I don't necessarily condone all her methods, sometimes we have to make an unexpected break if we have any hopes of starting over.

While Quentin, Ben, Radar and Lacey felt some disappointment at the end of the journey to find Margo, I feel like they haven't begun to see the truth. Its all about the journey, not the destination. Its what you learn along the way that makes it all worthwhile. And that's what I feel the book points out - accept others as they are and maybe you'll learn how to better accept yourself.