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Sunday, August 17, 2008

PAPER TOWNS by John Green


As most people who read the blog know, I don't read or review many Young Adult novels. (Actually, I am not going to actually review this book. Just tell you all that I think everyone should read it. As soon as it comes out.) I love YA but really don't have time to read many. With reading the K-6 stuff for work and the professional things I read and the adult books I read, YA comes as a last priority. Unfortunate, but true. Not because I don't love YA, but because there are so many books and so little time. So, I have to be very, very picky about the ones I do read. I read the classics. The books that you feel like you can't live without.

So, I can't tell you how happy I am that I made time to read PAPER TOWNS by John Green. As a non-YA reader, I would recommend it to everyone--whether you are a YA reader or not. It definitely deserves to be at the top of your next read stack. Like I said, I read the classic YA stuff. Love Chris Crutcher, Sherman Alexie, etc.

PAPER TOWNS is a great story and I won't go into the plot. Other reviewers have done that here, and here and here. I do have to say, for me, reading is all about the characters. And, these characters, Margo Roth Spiegelman, Quentin Jacobsen, Ben, Radar, Lacey. These characters will stay with me for a very, very long time. After reading the book, I feel like we've spent a lot of time together. Green is a master at creating believable characters that you come to know and love.

The cover is pretty amazing. Actually, the TWO covers are pretty amazing. John Green talks about the two covers here. Or you may prefer to hear him talk about the covers in Video Blog form. You can also hear John Green read an excerpt from his book here. And again here.

To remind yourself exactly how many days, hours and minutes you have before you can actually go out and BUY this new amazing book, you can visit the Paper Towns Countdown Widget. That John Green makes things fun and easy for his fans, don't you think?

And here is the even better news! John Green will be visiting COVER TO COVER Bookstore in Columbus!!! He will be there on October 20th at 5ish. So, you will have plenty of time between the day it comes out (October 16) and the day he visits to read the book because it will only take you a day or two because you won't be able to put it down.

7 comments:

  1. thanks for the heads up! i will check this out for sure.

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  2. Anonymous10:47 PM

    Oh,I am DYING DYING DYING for this one. It's been on my radar for months. I loved LOOKING FOR ALASKA and I loooove John Green. Thanks!
    -sarah

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  3. oh! new YA book and author's visit! two good news in a row! love it! thank you for the update!

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  4. I've been hearing great things about this one and will definitely have to check it out. The two covers intrigued me as soon as I saw them. Not often you see that. :)

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  5. Franki and Mary Lee
    I would love to know what you guys do in September to teach students to re-tell well. How do you teach and assess a good re-telling? And since re-telling is a low but necessary skill on the ladder - What horizons to you head toward after they've mastered re-telling? I know that we never use one reading skill at a time, but instead proficient readers use a mosaic of skills? However, what goals do you have for early September and how to you make plans to reach them

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  6. rscala,

    If you really want an answer to this PhD thesis topic you've proposed, email us off blog and we'll take a stab at it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just got this one and can't WAIT to start it. Thanks for all the links.

    Jules, 7-Imp

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