[3] John Green drew inspiration for this book from his experience and knowledge of "paper towns" during a road journey through South Dakota.

Nine years later, Quentin is an outcast whose best friends are Ben and Radar, while Margo is a popular student—both now seniors at Winter Park High School.

Margo and Quentin successfully complete the tasks, share a romantically ambiguous dance, and return to their homes around dawn.

Quentin and his friends follow these clues to find an abandoned mini-mall in Christmas, Florida, that contains evidence of Margo's recent presence.

On the day of his graduation, Quentin comes across an obscure Internet post, with a comment left on it which Quentin recognizes as Margo's due to its distinctive capitalization, which tells him that Margo has been hiding in a fictitious town in New York State called Agloe (which was created as a copyright trap by mapmakers) and that she plans to leave Agloe immediately after noon on May 29.

Quentin, Radar, Ben, and Lacey impulsively skip graduation to drive to Agloe to search for her, rushing to get from Florida to New York before noon on May 29.

Ultimately, Quentin accepts that it was unfair for him to expect Margo to live up to his perfect image of her, and he begins to logically overcome his sexual attraction towards her.

Publishers Weekly said: "The title, which refers to unbuilt subdivisions and copyright trap towns that appear on maps but don't exist, unintentionally underscores the novel's weakness: both milquetoast Q and self-absorbed Margo are types, not fully dimensional characters".

[14] School Library Journal said: "Q is a great social outcast main character who sometimes thinks a little too much, but is completely relatable.

"[15] Rebecca Swain of Orlando Sentinel stated: "Paper Towns has convinced me that jaded adult readers need to start raiding the Teen's section at the bookstore.

Green, who grew up in Orlando and uses the city as a backdrop for the story, taps into the cadence of teenage life with sharp and funny writing, but transcends age with deeper insights.

[19] Robert Corwin of Arizona State University wrote, "some readers may find the author's use of language and sexual content objectionable.

[14] On June 23, 2014, Paper Towns was removed from the summer reading list for 13-year-olds at Dr John Long Middle School in Pasco County, Florida after a parent complained to a board member that she disapproved of the book's sexual content.

In a letter to the district superintendent, the organization wrote: "No sound educational rationale for removing the book has been articulated, nor is it likely that one could be".