Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Title: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Author: Jesse Andrews
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Quotation: “When you convert a good book to a film. stupid things happen.”
Would recommend to: anyone interested in coming up with ideas.

“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” doesn’t seem like such a great book. Maybe you pick it up and think it will be funny, or heartwarming, or…something. You don’t know what it is you’re hoping for, but you pick it up anyways, without knowing what to expect.

I read this book on my plane ride to New Jersey. It was a great plane read because it’s not too heavy (surprisingly) and it’s simply written (which I really enjoy from time to time). But there isn’t much else to this book.

I admire the author because he’s very honest at the beginning on the book that not much happens – and nothing really does. He tells you from the very beginning that he doesn’t have any big revelations, nothing that happens with “the dying girl” changes him, etc. And he’s right. Nothing happens. It’s exactly what he says it is, a retelling of his life after his mom forced him to be friends with a girl diagnosed with leukemia.

And the girl does die. But honestly, when I read it, I didn’t feel much, because the main character didn’t feel much either. I had no connection with her because her character and the main character really didn’t undergo much character development. Overall, I was disappointed with the lack of growth in all aspects of this story.

But just because nothing happens, doesn’t mean there wasn’t something I liked about this book. I liked his inclusion of humor and honesty and his incorporation of screenplay formatting. I also really liked that he recognized the fact that he was writing a book. It put a different spin on things that I appreciated.

That being said, I wouldn’t suggest this book to a lot people. It’s easy to read and funny at times, but mostly I view it as a time waster. But, I would suggest trying out the movie. I haven’t watched it yet, but I could see how the story would be more interesting in movie format. So if you want to know what the book is about, watch the movie instead. (This is probably the only time I’m ever going to say that about any book.)

Happy reading,
Kimberly