Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: A Novel

by Jesse Andrews

Overview

The New York Times bestseller that inspired the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film. The funniest book you’ll ever read about death.

 

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.

This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.

“Mr. Andrews’ often hilarious teen dialogue is utterly convincing, and his characters are compelling. Greg’s random sense of humor, terrible self-esteem and general lack of self-awareness all ring true. Like many YA authors, Mr. Andrews blends humor and pathos with true skill, but he steers clear of tricky resolutions and overt life lessons, favoring incremental understanding and growth.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“One need only look at the chapter titles (‘Let’s Just Get This Embarrassing Chapter Out of the Way’) to know that this is one funny book.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Though this novel begs inevitable thematic comparisons to John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, it stands on its own in inventiveness, humor and heart.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613123065
Publisher:	ABRAMS, Inc.
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	308
Sales rank:	149,712
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jesse Andrews is a writer, musician, and former German youth hostel receptionist. He is a graduate of Schenley High School and Harvard University and lives in Boston. This is his first novel. Visit him at jesseandrews.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up—This debut novel is told from the point of view of intensely self-critical Greg S. Gaines, an aspiring filmmaker. A self-described pasty-faced failure with girls, the 17-year-old spends most of his time with his friend Earl, a foul-mouthed kid from the wrong side of town, watching classic movies and attempting to create their own cinematic masterpieces. When Greg's mother learns that Rachel, one of his classmates, has been diagnosed with leukemia, she encourages him to rekindle the friendship that started and ended in Hebrew school. While Greg promises that his story will contain "zero Important Life Lessons," his involvement with Rachel as her condition worsens nonetheless has an impact. In a moment of profundity, however, Greg also argues, "things are in no way more meaningful because I got to know Rachel before she died. If anything, things are less meaningful." Andrews makes use of a variety of narrative techniques to relate the story: scenes are presented in screenplay format and facts are related as numbered and elaborated-upon lists that are tied together by a first-person narrative divided into chapters indicated with self-deprecating titles (e.g., "I put the 'Ass' in 'Casanova'"). While the literary conceit—that the protagonist could be placed in a traditionally meaningful situation and not grow—is irreverent and introduced with a lot of smart-alecky humor, the length of the novel (overly long) and overuse of technique end up detracting from rather than adding to the story.—Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston

School Library Journal

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

JULY 2015 - AudioFile

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

JULY 2015 - AudioFile