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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
• When Margo and Quentin are nine, they make a horrible discovery and
respond in very different ways. Quentin says, “As I took those two steps
back, Margo took two equally small and quiet steps forward” (p. 5). Do
these descriptions still apply to the characters when they reach high
school? When the story ends? What changes?
• Describe Q’s best friends. Where do they fit into the caste system of
Winter Park High? If you had to choose one of these characters as your
best friend who would you pick? Why?
• How does Quentin struggle at times with his friendship with Ben? How
does Q learn to accept Ben for who he is? How does this relate to Q’s
changing understanding of Margo?
• Why do you think Margo picks Q as her accomplice on her campaign of
revenge?
• Do you think the characters Margo targets for revenge get what they
deserve? Does Lacey deserve to be included?
• When Margo disappears after her outing with Q, it’s not the first time
she’s seemingly vanished for a long period. Describe Margo’s other
adventures and note any common threads between the trips. What makes
her disappearance after her night with Q different from the others?
• When Margo disappears, she’s always been known to leave “a bit of a
bread crumb trail.” What clues does Margo leave for Quentin? How are
these different from clues left previously?
• Do you think Margo wants to be found? Do you think Margo wants to
be found by Q?

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• Why does Quentin begin to believe that Margo may have committed
suicide? What clues make this seem like a viable solution to the mystery
of her whereabouts?
• Describe Q’s tour of the various abandoned subdivisions he visits on his
quest to find Margo. How are they different? How might these differences
parallel the evolution of Q’s search?
• Discuss what Q finds in the abandoned minimall and how the book
contributes both to the plot of the story and to what he ultimately learns
about Margo and about himself.
• Discuss the road trip to find Margo. What are the most important events
along the way? How does this adventure mirror the one Margo and
Quentin had in the beginning of the book? Compare and contrast the two.
• Discuss the scene where Q finally finds Margo. How does her reaction
to seeing her friends make you feel? Do you believe that she didn’t want
Q to come after her?
• Why do you think Q makes the decision he does at the end of the book?
Do you agree with his decision to turn down Margo’s invitation?
• The definition of a “paper town” changes many times in the book.
Describe the evolution of its meaning. How does it relate to the mystery?
To the themes of the book?
• With which character’s version of the “real” Margo do you most agree?
• Do you think that Margo meant to give her friends a false impression of
her true self?
• Q’s parents describe people as “mirrors” and “windows” (p. 199). What
does this mean? Do you agree with this metaphor?

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• Q comes to this conclusion (p. 199): “Margo was not a miracle. She was
not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.”
Discuss.
• The book is divided into three sections: The Strings; The Grass; and The
Vessel. What is the connection between the sections/titles and the content
within those sections? How do the sections/titles connect to the themes of
the book?
• Which philosophy of life do you most agree with: Margo’s Strings?
Whitman’s Grass? Or Q’s Cracked Vessel? Why?
• At different times, both Margo and Q use lines of poetry without
considering the context of the whole poem. How do you think this
changes the meaning?
• Q is reading Moby Dick in English class. How does it appear elsewhere
in Q’s story?
• Q’s interpretation and understanding of Walt Whitman’s “Song of
Myself” changes as the mystery progresses. What are the different phases
of his understanding? Do you agree with his final conclusion about the
poem’s meaning?
• The book opens with two epigraphs, a poem and a song. Why do you
think the author chose these? Why do you think he chose to use them
together?
• Another common term for a “paper town” is a “copyright trap.” Can you
find examples of others? What are some other terms for copyright traps?
• Discuss the last line of the book, how it relates to the rest of the story,
and what it ultimately says about Margo and Q’s relationship.

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