Paper Towns by John Green

Author:  John Green

Genre:  Adventure, Mystery

Target Audience:  Young Adult

Reading Experience:  8/10

Story:  8.5/10

Writing:  8/10

My Verdict:  8.5/10

In contrast to my review of Colleen Hoover's November 9, I thought I might add one of my favorite Young Adult novels.  

Paper Towns, by John Green, is the story of Quentin "Q" Jacobsen.  Q has loved his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman  all of his life, since the moment she moved next door.  But from afar.  He never dared to tell her.  They had one moment together as children that marked their relationship forever.  Now as teenagers, Q and Margo rarely speak; they are strangers.  She's an enigma to Q, but he still loves her.  Everything is fine and normal until one night Margo climbs through his bedroom window on the second floor, like a ninja with a special mission.  She embarks Q on one of the most memorable nights of his life.  But when that adventure ends, and a new day dawns, Margo disappears.  And Q starts to believe that she left clues for him, so that he could find her.  Q embarks on his own mission to find her, following the clues she left behind.

I won't say more, 'cause I'll spoil it.  But if you thought the Fault in Our Starts was good, this one takes the cake, in my opinion.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

"Welcome, to Jurassic Park!"

You can hear it, can you?  The fanfare?  You hear it while you picture yourself in the Toyota Land Cruisers, which are painted bright green with stripes.  It's automated and you move through dense vegetation, in a secluded island off the coast of Costa Rica, and you near a large, wooden gate.  As you get closer, the music gets louder, the gates open and you go through it.  You have time to look up and notice how colossal it is.

Then you're inside.  Nature stretches before you and all around you. You have arrived, you're finally there, back in time, eons!