Paper Towns

By John Green 

     Do we ever truly know our friends and neighbors, or do we only the persona that they show the world.  This is a very well written and thought provoking book that I totally love!  Quentin has had a crush on the girl next door for as long as he can remember.  They used to be best friends, but they have parted ways and grown into two totally different individuals.  Quentin is now the quiet studious kid, with friends in the band.  Margo is the adventurous cheerleader that is always doing some incredible schemes.  She is the life of the party a beautiful flame that everyone wants to be near.  After years of barely talking, even though they are neighbors, Margo shows up at Q's window one evening, asking for his help.  Of course, Quentin can not refuse to help Margo, what follows is a night full of pranks that definitely push Q out of his comfort zone.  It was the best night of his life, but will she acknowledge him tomorrow in school?  

     The following day, Margo is not in class, but Q figures she is sleeping off their late night and avoiding the consequences of some of the pranks that the two accomplished the previous evening.  When he returns home, he discovers that she is missing, the detective and her parents believe that she has run away.  The policeman let's Q know that she has left before, but she always leaves random clues for people to find her.  Q believes that he is that person, when he notices a poster on the back side of the shade in her window.  It is now his mission to unravel the clues and find Margo.  The Margo that he comes to know from the clues is not the Margo that he knew and loved, this is somebody completely unfamiliar to Quentin.  When he finds the book of poetry by Whitman, and the highlighted sections, add a sense of urgency to his quest.  Will Quentin and his friends be able to find Margo, and can they convince her to return home?  Quentin even skips out on his high school graduation in his hunt for Margo.  His true friends join him on this spur of the moment road trip.  Does Q find Margo?  Does he find the person that he does find?  Or is the illusion of Margo what he really loved ?  

     I found this book very good, and thoughtful.  Especially the line, 

"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.”

Sometimes the person you present to the world can no longer be maintained and you must be you!  I do feel that either gender would enjoy this book, especially since the main character is male.  I am giving this book a 5 our of 5 stars, and think it is appropriate for 7th grade on up.  This book is a definite treasure.  To all of my educator friends, my copy of the book had discussion questions in the back, that could lead to a lot of great conversations.  

Links 

Author - John Green

Walt Whitman

Do Paper towns really exist?

Booked

                                                     By Kwame Alexander 

     Middle school is a tremendous time of growth and maturity.  A time of new interests, old friends new friends and romance.  Nick has a highly developed lexicon due to a father that is a professor of linguistics.  In fact, his father has even written a dictionary of interesting words.  Nick loves to play soccer, hang out with his best friend Coby, he is shy around the girl of his dreams, has a great relationship with his mother and friction with his father.  He has a marvelous mentor in the school's librarian, former rapper Mac. Nick seems to be muddling through his 8th grade year pretty well until strife between his parents makes his home life strained and until the class bullies come back to school.  One of the twins likes Nick's dream girl, which leads to even more turmoil.  

     When Nick's parents openly disagree and dad ends up sleeping on the couch, his life really starts shifting to a new normal.  Nick's mother decides to have a trial separation and moves out of state to further her career has a horse trainer.  This leaves Nick with an exacting father with extremely high expectations.  Nick's father forces him to read his dictionary daily and Nick hates to read even though his romantic interest is in the school's book club.  Nick's love of soccer and his best friend Coby are really his saving grace and they are looking forward to a large tournament with college scouts, but in a rival soccer match, when Coby is on the opposing team. Nick is injured and he suffers a burst appendix.  The tournament is out and Nick is devastated.  When Nick is injured his mom returns home and thinks seems to return to normal, until she packs to return to Kentucky.  Nick learns that the written word is his life-save; a new activity, book club, communicating with his mother and using his words to avoid confrontation.  Nick does return to health and his life has changed. 

     I absolutely love this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars.  It was amusing fast paced and highly entertaining.  I think that it is very appropriate for any student 5th grade and higher.  I could not put this book down and will be one of those books that I will keep for a long time.  I especially liked the thought  that was put into the the font size, the footnotes and the care for the total package.  I never knew that poetry could be this incredible!  This book is awesome! 

Links

Kwame Alexander

Soccer rules

What to do if you are bullied.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

                                                                                 By Lisa Schroeder 

     This is a heartbreaking and haunting book.  Some say that your first love will stay with one forever!  The story is told in a poetic fashion and tells the tale of love between two high school students.  Ava and Jackson are in love and do everything together, they are best friends! One of their ongoing games is "Dare", and one dare goes deadly awry, leaving Ava without her Jackson.  The dare that leads to Jackson's death brings a crushing guilt to Ava and she can not let go.  Jackson returns and helps her release her guilt and continue on with life.
     Everyone around Ava is concerned about her and try to get her to get back into her normal routine.  Nothing helps until a family trip to the beach, where Jackson can not follow and a chance meeting with a guy at the waterfront.  When Ava returns, she begins to research the paranormal, and question why Jackson is still haunting her.  She comes to the conclusion that this is not who and what she is, she wants a return to normalcy.  She gets the courage to tell Jackson that he needs to move on!
     This book resonated on a couple of levels.  First of all, there are people that I have lost that I've always wanted to see, or talk to one more time.  I do believe that hindsight is twenty-twenty.  I think when somebody dies unexpectedly, some may always question, if....  I know when my son passed in an automobile accident, I wondered if I had called Tim earlier to come get me from work if I had called off work that day... and the list goes on.  The possibility of having the guilt absolved, fascinating!
     I am giving this book a 3 out of 5.  I do feel that it is a very good book but mature.  This book is for high school students or a mature eighth grader.  This is a love story and skews towards the feminine gender.  Happy reading!

Links 

Author: Lisa Schroeder

Coping with the death of a teen friend

Other books about Teen Death

Signs from a deceased loved one....????