Juvenile Fiction
Allen & Unwin
April 1, 2012
Hardcover
304
A hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at friendship, high school - and death - from a talented debut author. Film to be directed by Dan Fogelman. Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Until Greg's mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel. Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia - cue extreme adolescent awkwardness - but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives. And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.
WrensReads Review:
Get ready to laugh.
This story is not a Fault In Our Stars or any other tragic teen-romance-cancer-or-terrible-illness-or-sudden-death type of book.
In fact, the sub-plot of this book focuses on “the dying girl,” not the actual plot.
If there really is a plot.
Basically, “Me” (Greg) is a super weird kid who is scared to make friends. He is casual with all the groups of kids at school and that is how he likes it: invisible and not hated. He has the best sense of humor and, in my opinion, has anxiety about people actually being his friend or knowing anything about his life what-so-ever.
“Earl” is his ‘coworker’. This means that Earl is his closest thing to a friend and they make films together that actually truly suck. They don’t show them to anyone because they suck. Actually, no one even knows they make films. They are very secretive about their out-of-school activities.
“The Dying Girl” (Rachel) is a girl that Greg awkwardly dated when he was trying to get the attention of another girl like in middle school or something. He awkwardly ended it and then they had an awkward friendship when he ignored her or talked about how his foot is stuck in some kitchen appliance and then they never spoke again.
Until now.
Does anyone else know the moms that force you to do things and you just do them to shut them up? Well, my mother is an actual angel sent from above, so I do not, but Greg’s mom is so flipping manipulative and controlling and she is seriously doing it because she thinks she knows what he needs in order to get what he wants.
It’s actually legitimately crazy, but it is how this story gets started.
Rachel gets leukemia. Greg’s mother thinks they are still friends so she forces him to go and spend time with her this year because she believes he can cheer her up.
Well, he tries.
Earl get’s involved as well and it’s actually a very interesting and hilarious story.
This isn’t a story about love, this isn’t a romantic movie, and this isn’t something that you feel really sad at the end. This book is realistic. Sometimes ordinary, boring, nothing special people get sick with cancer and don’t have an extraordinary love story to send them off with.
What this story is: funny and realistic; and I recommend you read it.
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