Themes: Friendship, Coming-of-Age, Leukemia/Cancer, Death, High School, Families, Humor
Author information: Jesse Andrews is a novelist, musician, and screenwriter. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, and is a graduate of Harvard University. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. It was not until college that he even made out with a girl for more than five minutes. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is his first novel
Book summary: Greg is friends with everyone and no one at his high school, an amazing feat after 17 years with the same people. Well, he has one friend - Earl. He and Earl have two very different families yet bond over one thing – the love of a quality film. For fun he and Earl secretly make films that are remakes of classics. But his life changes drastically when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once made fun of in elementary school, who is now diagnosed with cancer.
Booktalk: You hate high school. You've made it 17 years with the same people without having to befriend a single one. Graduation looms, freedom is near... Then one day your mom sabotages everything. She tells you about a girl named Rachel who is going to be your new friend. And oh yeah, Rachel might be dying. And you're going to cheer her up. What to do? What to say? Thus begins the story of hilarity and hijinks between Greg, Earl, and Rachel.
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