Though this book came out in 2008, the movie adaptation hits the big screen on June 6th of this year, making now the perfect time to read the book.

Before reading this book, know that as with Green’s other books, this one contains some edgy material: readers will find plenty of curse words and sexual references, though nothing graphic. In the beginning, Margo Roth Spiegelman, whose personality requires her whole name to be said everytime, and Quentin Jacobsen (Q) come across the dead body of a man who killed himself, and later, when she disappears, Q wonders if Margo Roth Spiegelman has committed suicide. Also, the very appealing main characters sneak out at night and conduct a series of pranks, involving vandalism and misdemeanors, for which there are no consequences other than a fond and amusing memory. But the characters – and the writing – are very sophisticated. Readers will find references to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass – and be asked to think critically about identity and how well we ever really know anyone.

The title, Paper Towns, refers to the cartographic phenomena wherein mapmakers will insert fake places (called copyright traps or paper towns) onto their maps to make sure no one is copying them. This term is also used in the book to describe Orlando, Florida where the book is set. Margo Roth Spiegelman uses it to refer to the fakeness of everything in the city.

This book is a combination of a mystery and romance. Margo Roth Spiegelman, the romantic interest in Quentin Jacobsen’s life, disappears. She’d disappeared before, but never for this long, and she always leaves clues. Q, his friends Ben and Radar, and Lacey Pemberton, Margo Roth Spiegelman’s best friend, explore the clues she’s left this time, unveiling her hiding place with the help of the Omnictionary, a fictional website similar to wikipedia.

Green’s brother, Hank Green, wrote a song about a specific part of the book, called “The List.” I suggest you look it up, it’s pretty good.

The movie adaptation comes out on June 6th, the one year anniversary of the movie The Fault in Our Stars, also based on one of Green’s books. It stars Cara Delevingne as Margo Roth Spiegelman, and Nat Wolff as Quentin Jacobsen. I am very excited for this movie myself, and if it is a fraction as good as the book, I will be happy.