Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

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.  

Where do I even start???? This book made me laugh, cry, and held my attention the entire time. "Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl" is about Greg who is a senior in high school. Throughout his entire educational career, Greg has tried to remain invisible. He doesn't like excessive attention, he doesn't want to be labeled as part of any particular social clique, and dislikes school. Greg has always struggled when it comes to girls and ultimately makes a fool of himself in front of them by talking about alien barf or something of that nature. Greg's only "sort-of" friend is a black student named Earl. The two boys discovered the art of film-making after watching a German foreign language film that belonged to Greg's dad when they were in elementary school. As kids, Greg and Earl start re-making some of these films as well as creating new films of their own. When Greg's mom tells him that a fellow classmate of his, Rachel, is dying from leukemia he is coerced in spending time with her to make her feel better. Ultimately, spending time with Rachel is going to change Greg's life forever......and possibly not in a good way.
Don't confuse this book with John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars". There is no real deep revelation or sappy scenes to endure. The subject of death is handled in such a unique and comedic way by author, Jesse Andrews. The F-word is used multiple times and there are some crude sexual jokes, but they are necessary in helping to build the characterization of Greg and Earl. I LOVED this book and will definitely be seeing the movie ASAP. This book will be recommended to my more mature students. Definitely a great high school title.