Paper Towns

About a week after it's debut, I went with two of my teacher friends to see the new John Green movie Paper Towns.  I had read the book about a year or so earlier and had been following much of the movie updates and news.

The basic premise of the story is Quentin (Q) grows up across the street from Margo.  They bond as small children over finding a dead man, but it affects them very differently.  The bulk of the story takes place, however, during their senior year.  They are all but strangers at this point.  Margo is super cool and popular while Q is smart and nerdy.  Margo sneaks into Q's room in the middle of the night, asking him to help her get revenge on her now ex-boyfriend and friends.  He agrees, they have a fantastic adventure, and he hopes that from now on things will be different between them.  Instead, Margo completely disappears, causing Q to become somewhat obsessed with finding her.

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The book is an exceptional YA story and I enjoyed it.  I think that John Green does a nice job of articulating the thoughts and fears of smart teenagers.  The teens in his books aren't the trashy, stupid, stereotypes often portrayed in teen movies.  Paper Towns is a very different book than The Fault in Our Stars and people who were hoping for a similar epic romance were sorely disappointed when they read this one.  The story has a great message about how you see people and identity.  It is also a great story of male friendship, which can sometimes be hard to find.  (While this book is recommended for children ages 14+, I did have several 7th grade TFIOS fans read it this past year.  It also worked well as John Green book that my male students weren't ashamed to be seen reading.)

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 The movie was good, just not amazing.  As a fan of the book, I liked it.  However, the movie did not do well in theaters.  Honestly, I don't see how it could.  The story itself doesn't contain either of the two things that make a blockbuster- an epic love story or an action packed adventure.  It is a good movie.  I really like Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne is not in much of the movie, and Austin Abrams totally steals the show.  He's funny and quirky and a great friend.  If you've read the book, I would recommend the movie.  Otherwise, eh, wait to RedBox it.