Narrator Thomas Mann is flawless as insecure high school senior Greg Gaines. Based on a shared love of filmmaking, Greg establishes an unlikely friendship with Earl, an African-American teen from a dysfunctional family. Greg has cultivated "invisibility" in school, but that changes when his mother insists he befriend the dying Rachel. First-person narration allows Mann to channel the paradox that is Greg. We hear his muttered responses to girls while at the same time being privy to his humorously insightful self-examinations. R.J. Cyler portrays Earl, whose street-talking honesty is in sharp contrast to Greg's reticence. As the two friends make their movies, listeners are treated to scenes—complete with narrator, setting, and script notes. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Banned and challenged books have made us question the ways of the world — and sparked heated debates for as long as any of us can remember. Banned Books Week runs from 9/18 – 9/24, and the titles on this year’s list include the top 10 most challenged books of 2021 — some you know and, if not, maybe this is the year you read them. Want more […]
A story of friendship and tragedy lightened by quirky humor.
It’s the greatest pain and greatest pleasure of our reading lives: no matter how many wonderful novels we read, more are always rolling off the printing presses. We’ll never be finished reading—but we’d never want to be, either. Here are eight highly anticipated new books threatening the integrity of our nightstands and coffee tables in April.
We love summer movies (air conditioning was made for darkened movie theaters), but we especially love summer movies when they bring our favorite books to life. Here are the adaptations we can’t wait to watch this summer.
Jesse Andrews’ hilarious Me and Earl and the Dying Girl hits theaters tonight, in an adaptation that’s fabulously faithful to its source material’s geeky rebel spirit. Both follow aspiring filmmaker and social dilettante Greg Gaines (played by Thomas Mann), who eschews real friendship in favor of floating between cliques, trying to avoid notice or entanglements. […]