# Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

By Jesse Andrews

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-e5a9a297/

Greg Gaines has a plan for senior year: avoid attention and keep making bad movie parodies with Earl. Then his mother insists he spend time with Rachel, a classmate with leukemia. Greg and Earl decide to make her a film.

## What makes it funny?

Greg can't even tell his own story without insulting the person writing it. His self-criticism extends to the prose itself, while scripts and digressions keep interrupting his account.

### The comedy at work

A teenager trying to stay unnoticed has to describe friendships he can barely admit to having. His self-conscious commentary supplies recurring jokes as the filmmaking project brings him closer to Rachel.

### Try this if…

Readers who enjoy abrasive teenage narrators and stories about making art badly have plenty to work with here. The humor accompanies serious illness and emotional awkwardness.

### Good to know

Leukemia and death are central subjects. Earl smokes and uses coarse language; the story alternates conventional narration with film-script passages.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary
- On the shelf: Coming of age
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy
- The atmosphere: Irreverent
- Audience: Young adult
- Format: Novel

## Sources & further reading

- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jesse-andrews/me-and-earl-and-dying-girl)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl_9781419719608)