Me, Earl and the Dying Girl

High School is all about choosing sides and finding allies, which inevitably makes you enemies. If you are a drama kid, the jocks will undoubtedly ignore you at best. If you are a Queen Bee, the goth kids despise you. But what if you could manage to be accepted on the outskirts of every single group? You would never be able to reveal your allegiance to another group, would have to avoid all areas of congregation like the plague, and would have to accept that in order to be friends with everyone, you can't have any real friends. Is it worth it? For Greg, it was a juggling act that was about to come crashing down in Jesse Andrews' Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl. 

Greg is a pasty, overweight, nondescript kind of guy, but his philosophy for making it through high school is a unique one. If you can somehow manage to have a casual connection with every group on campus without actually committing to a single one, you can be relatively safe from the horrors of high school. For a kid like Greg who is awkward, can't talk to girls (actually, turns into a babbling idiot every time a cute girl walks into the room), and is obsessed with strange, obscure movies, this is really the best decision. He has always had Earl, the filthy mouthed oddball who shares Greg's love of strange movies and is his coproducer in their own miserable attempts at filmmaking, but you wouldn't exactly call Earl a "friend". He is more like a bad habit. 

When Greg actually made attempts to get girls to notice him, they turned into poo-covered, flaming disasters. The only girl he didn't completely alienate was Rachel. Granted, he never accomplished much of anything, but at least she didn't think he was a drooling moron. When Greg's mother tells him Rachel has cancer, she forces him to spend time with her. In reality, it isn't so bad. Rachel is pretty cool, and she isn't appalled by Greg's bizarre antics, but this isn't like what you would expect from a boy who befriended a dying girl. It isn't some life-affirming, wisdom laden one-liner filled cream puff of grief and self-reflection. Greg insists Rachel's presence in his life has not changed him. But is it possible to live through something like the death of a girl who was the first person you let over your protective wall and not be affected? Greg insists it is!

OK, this was a strange book. It was strange in the same way Greg was strange- awkward, sometimes pretty funny, and surprisingly endearing. I actually loved it when I first started it, went through a period of being annoyed by Greg's silliness, and finished absolutely loving it. It was a strange experience, to tell you the truth. Even now, I am not sure how to describe the book that is going to truly do it any justice. Greg is just this big ball of awkwardness. He is so invested in blending in and not identifying himself to anyone, that is becomes terrifying to him to even consider openly befriending Rachel in school, but because he has a soft, gooey center, he does it anyway. And he insists over and over again that he is not affected by Rachel's leukemia, but you can see how it chips away at his resolve and his hard candy coating he uses to protect himself. Not in a "come to Jesus" kind of revelation, nothing that dramatic or expected, but just in small, tiny little ways where he allows Rachel to affect him. It was a really interesting approach. In fact, it made me think that this book was the antithesis to The Fault in Our Stars. Everything Greg made fun of, the deep, meaningful one liners, the emotional roller coaster, the grief, was hidden so well, you would almost miss it if you weren't looking carefully enough. And in the end, although Greg was totally ridiculous at times, it was a really great book.

And the supporting characters were just as hilarious. Earl in all his foul-mouthed glory was so absurd you had to love him. Greg's parents were just as entertaining. I think I can see the exact kind of kid I would give this book to- the wise-guy kind of tough guy who hides behind his wise cracks and silly jokes, the class clown. The only concern is that there is a lot of profanity and sex talk in this book (nothing graphic, just gross teenage boys talking about boobs and whatnot). I personally wouldn't let that keep me from giving this to a younger student if I thought they would enjoy the book, because it is mostly in the form of silly jokes and ribbing, but some might not be comfortable with that, so I thought it was worth mentioning. I am still shaking my head about this book, but I will definitely read Andrews' next book to see how much of this story was his creation of the characters and how much was really Andrews!

Viola in Not So Reel Life

Ninth grade is tough enough without being shipped off to a boarding school in Indiana when all you have ever known is life is your parents and Brooklyn. But Viola can adapt, even from behind a video camera in Adriana Trigiani's Viola in Real Life. 

Viola has no interest in going to an all girls' school and even less interest in being shipped off to Indiana. But she can still talk to her BFF Andrew via instant message when she needs to and her video diary is her one stable outlet. When she meets her roommates, she realizes just how out of her element she is. The girls are nice, but she is not ready to really let them in.

Slowly but surely, the girls worming their way into Viola's life. It takes a few false starts, but eventually, they are able to make her realize they are there for her. Once she lets them in, she sees just how much she missed having a friend to share everything with, especially now that Andrew has a girlfriend and isn't available like he used to be. But a dance at the local boys' school finds Viola with a boyfriend, and amazingly enough, a boyfriend who is into films as well! But Reel Life isn't always what you expect it to be.

When I first started this book, I didn't realize it was about a 9th grade girl. I thought it was more young adult than the middle reader it turned out to be, so I think my misconception made it difficult for me to enjoy this book fully. I like a good middle reader, but sometimes this book felt too juvenile and too cliche for me. For instance, Viola's roommates are too mature, clear-headed, and rational for 9th grade girls. I can buy one, maybe two girls, but all of them? I have spent time in the girls' dorm at our school. I have never seen that many rational girls that age in one place! Girls that age get their feelings hurt and snipe at one another and hold grudges. They don't rationalize and openly discuss each other's shortcoming without some relational aggression thrown in for good measure. I guess sometimes I felt like these characters were more caricatures than representations of real people. 

And Viola herself was hard to really like. I saw her transformation and how she grew up over the course of the year, but some of her "big lessons" were too rushed or improperly explained. Mostly she seemed very young and very naive about life (like how her parents' financial situation really was). I think this book would be good for a young girl, mostly middle school to a super immature 9th grader. I think most older girls are going to see through these characters too easily to care much about the book. Although, the film aspect is certainly interesting, it doesn't float the whole novel.

I Love Paris All the Time!

Paris. Beautiful, foreign, historic, romantic Paris. It's been at almost 15 years since I was in Paris, but I haven't forgotten such an amazing city. And the food... mmmm... the food! So imagine a story about young love in Paris, and Stephanie Perkins has hit the literary jackpot with Anna and the French Kiss. 


Anna's annoying father decided she needed to experience a new culture... for her senior year! The last thing Anna wants is to leave her friends, her school, her little brother, and her new possibly-future boyfriend for a country where she doesn't even speak the language. When she is dropped off at SOAP (School of America at Paris), she realizes just how alone she is. Luckily, she isn't alone for long. Quickly she meets a group of friends who includes a very cute, and very unavailable guy named Etienne St. Clair. Anna knows St. Clair is dating someone, but she can't help but stare at him with those dreamy eyes and think about him every time he is gone. She knows Toph is home, hopefully waiting for her, but she can't stop thinking about St. Clair.


As the months pass, Anna realizes just St. Clair is, but he seems to be miserable in his relationship. When they spend Thanksgiving break together, just the two of them, Anna realizes she feels more for St. Clair than she ever did for Toph. When she finally goes home to see her family for Christmas, she has a rude awakening waiting for her. While she was in Paris, life went on without her, including Toph. The only thing that holds her together for the 2 weeks she is home is St. Clair's emails and phone calls. When she returns to Paris, she realizes true feelings for St. Clair, but he is still dating another girl. Can Anna bring herself to just be friends with him? Can she forgive the people who all but forgot about her when she moved to Paris? How far will she go to be with St. Clair?


Oh, Sarah Dessen fans of the world! I introduce you to the author who is just as amazing as Sarah Dessen- Stephanie Perkins! Oh, Perkins creates the same amazing characters that you can't get enough of and the most amazing stories you will want to read again and again. In fact, you will become just as obsessed with Perkins as you have with Dessen- I know I have! Oh Anna was every bit as confused young woman as I wanted her to be (and remember being when I was her age). And all that swoony, wonderful young love? You will fall right into it with this book, just like Anna and St. Clair.


This is a great book for those young women who like to read romantic books full of stolen glances, hoped-for kisses, and fiery contact of a leg brushed up against another leg in the movie theater or a hand brushed against another hand at a cafe. This will appeal to a wide range of girls, from older middle school student through high school students. It is a fairly clean story, perfect for the young adult circuit. I don't imagine many boys being interested in it purely for superficial reasons, but you never know! Oh Stephanie Perkins! Thank God(dess) you decided to start writing!

The ReInvention of a Picture Book

As a teacher of dyslexic students, I appreciate just how hard it is to find a book for a low-skilled older student. Virtually impossible. You don't want to insult the student, but you don't want to frustrate them with a book that is entirely too difficult. And what about your emergent readers? Older students who are just learning to read. Do you give them picture books and chapter books? What if you had a really beautiful story, full of gorgeous illustrations disguised as usual middle reader book (except much bigger and much heavier)? Brian Selznick created a masterpiece with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but when he did, I am sure he didn't realize he was creating a bridge for emergent readers into the world of book lovers.

Hugo was orphaned twice. When his father was killed in a fire in his workshop working on a device Hugo wanted him to fix, Hugo was sent to live with his uncle. Hugo's uncle lived in the train station and was responsible for winding all the clocks twice a day. It wasn't the hardest job in the world, but it took a lot of responsibility so the clocks didn't fall behind and break down. When Hugo's uncle disappears, Hugo takes over the clocks and keeps up the ruse his uncle is still there because he has no other place to go.

Unable to cash his uncle's checks, Hugo is forced to steal his food. He only steals out of necessity, except for toys. Hugo can't resist the toy booth run by the old man, but when he is caught stealing a toy mouse, the old man forces him to fix it. He takes Hugo's notebook- the last thing Hugo has from his father that holds the secrets to fixing the device his father died trying to fix for Hugo- the automaton. Hugo salvaged the automaton from the building where his father was killed, but without the notebook, he will never get the figure to work. When the old man sees Hugo's ability to fix the toy, he puts him to work fixing toys in the shop. By day Hugo works in the shop, but night he works on the automaton. It is a busy life, but Hugo just wants his notebook back. When the old man's goddaughter promises to get it back for him, he doesn't realize the secrets they will uncover together. There is more to the old man than Hugo ever realized, but then again, the old man didn't know Hugo was an orphan living in the train station either.

The beauty of this book, besides the pages and pages of beautiful illustrations, was the ability of those illustrations to tell huge parts of the story. An emergent reader must look at a book and be completely overwhelmed by all those words. Pages and pages of words. So what if half the story was told by a series of illustrations that wordlessly told a beautiful story of a sad boy who finds people who care about him? I love this book for many reasons, but the biggest reason is that I can just see a student who is just starting to read being able to successfully wade through this book in all its bulk (500+ pages) and know they have read a book. Imagine the pride that would come from that student?

So I have to say, I think Selznick is a genius. He created a book that is not only beautiful, but one that can appeal to even the most low-skilled students. I think it is an important book for any children's library or classroom, especially for students with learning disabilities. The illustrations can emote with little effort and will provide tons of material for discussions. You can have students write the dialogue or describe the illustrations as an activity. If a student is creative, you can have them illustrate the portions of the book that aren't already illustrated. The opportunities are limitless.