Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

 Andrews, J. (2015). Me and Earl and the dying girl: A novel. New York, NY: Amulet Books.

Greg Gaines enjoys going through school being unnoticed by others; he prefers to hide out in one of his teacher's office with his friend and co-director Earl. He and Earl make films, not necessarily good ones, but films nonetheless that are uniquely weird and different. By starting off his senior year this well something was bound to go bad. Greg's kind of ex-girlfriend Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia and may be dying soon. Greg's mom has asked him to hang out with her, so now it is just him and Earl and Rachel trying to survive their senior year. In the end, Greg finds out that he does have some potential as a film-maker, but unfortunately Earl has abandoned the profession and sadly Rachel passes away. It is through their friendship that this realization is made. 

This book has been an interesting one in the sense that I do see young adults, mainly high-school students, reading this book and finding it relatable in some aspects. It does have themes of individuality and being true to yourself, so this would be a great book to share with students who are still finding out who they are. As a teacher, you can also use excerpts of the book as an example of a script just like we would with Walter Dean Myers' Monster. 

I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars!