Chapter Summaries

Prologue: We are introduced to Quentin Jacobson as a nine-year-old boy who lives in Florida next to a beautiful girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman. The two children are biking around their subdivision as usual one day, when they find a dead man in the park.This experience seems to have affected Margo, who since then has always liked mysteries.

Part One: The Strings

Chapter 1 Summary:
In this chapter we read about a day in the life of "Q". He is a senior, Radar and Ben are his two best friends, and he no longer talks to his lovely neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman, until the end of the chapter when she knocks on his window again after nine years.

Chapter 2 Summary:
Margo convinces Quentin to join her on her night of revenge. He agrees to drive her around to deal with her 11 problems, and their first stop is Publix.

Chapter 3 summary:
Margo gives Q a questionable grocery list for Publix. They then both go to Walmart, and buy odd and random objects, Quentin is still unsure of what all these items are for and what their tasks are tonight.

Chapter 4 summary:
In chapter 4, Margo and Q conquer 5/11 of the problems. They catch Margo's boyfriend having an affair with her best friend and get revenge on them by pulling a couple of pranks.

Chapter 5 Summary:
By the end of the chapter, 9/11 problems have been dealt with. Margo leaves an apology for a friend, gets even more revenge of her cheating ex-boyfriend, and also punishes another one of her "best-friends" for not telling her about the affair.

Chapter 6 summary:
Margo and Quentin drive to downtown Orlando and sneak into the SunTrust building. They go to the top floor and look over Orlando, and Margo says it is just a "paper town".

Chapter 7:
For part 10, Margo lets Quentin choose a person to serve revenge on. They accomplish the act and decide to "visit Sea World for free" at 4am.

Chapters 8-9:
Margo and Quentin cross a moat and enter Sea World. They hangout and slow dance and conclude their night happily; Quentin drops off Margo and can't wait to see her at school the next morning.

Part 2: The Grass

Chapter 1-2
The next day Margo is not at school. Quentin uses some of the revenge he and Margo did to threaten the bullies who were not treating kids right.

Chapter 3-4
Quentin wakes up to find a detective talking to his parents, looking for Margo. Quentin tells the detective everything he knows. Shortly after, Quentin discovers the first to many clues Margo left for him, and with the help of his two friends (Ben and Radar), together they search Margo's room.

chapters 5-9
Margo's friend Lacey wonders where Margo went as well. Quentin continues to decipher the clues, and ends up solving one of them. He finds an address and he and his friends rush to the location. The place is nothing the teenagers would've imagined, and they come across some mysterious writing about paper towns. After no sign of Margo, the three friends leave the building.

Chapters 10-12
Quentin starts to become very obsessed with finding Margo. He spends every spare moment analyzing clues and trying to think of different possibilities, He also gets upset and longs for her. He finds proof that Margo actually was living at that dingy location for a while.

chapters 13-15
Quentin's priority is to find Margo, he even misses prom and a party for it. He ends up picking his drunk friend Ben up and the next day he tries to spend time with his friends, but also tells them about what he has discovered.

Chapters 16-18
Quentin takes Margo's best friend Lacey to the location where Margo had been living, and they encounter some people there who give them some information they didn't know about Margo. Quentin discovers a map that seems to have once had pins on locations; he infers that it is the map Margo used to decide where she wants to go.

Chapters 19-20
It is the last day of high school and Margo has still not returned. Quentin gets a minivan as his graduation present from his parents. Quentin is searching the internet, and he finds a post which he knows is written by Margo. She reveals her location subtly in the post and Quentin knows where she is! He has to make it there in 24 hours; He, Ben, Radar and Lacey don't think twice about missing graduation and they leave on a road trip to this "paper town" called Algoe.

Part 3: The Vessel
Hour 1- Hour 5
The 4 friends organize a game plan to ensure they will reach their destination on time. On a strict schedule, they stop to stock up on supplies and then begin their 23 hour non-stop road trip.

Hour 6- Hour 11
Quentin and his friends try to keep themselves entertained while dealing with traffic. Quentin and Ben begin to fight at one point when a cow jumps in front of the car and the van spins out of control. The 4 teenagers almost died, but they're lucky to be alive.

Hour 12- Algoe
After the incident, it is Quentins turn to sleep. The friends finally reach Algoe after a 22 hour drive and they see Margo's car... which leads them to Margo in a deserted barn! Margo and Quentin talk and Quentin tries to convince her to come back to Orlando, but Margo explains how she's a paper girl and Orlando is not the right town for her. Quentin sadly leaves Margo, but they promise to see each other soon.