Me and Earl and The Dying Girl

Key Takeaways

A first-person YA novel by Jesse Andrews, narrated by a self-deprecating teenager who is quick to disown every earlier version of himself. The two highlights Kyle saved both turn on the narrator’s voice: a deadpan, contrarian dismissal of the things his peers care about, and a sharper line distinguishing self-criticism from genuine Self-hatred — he hates the people he used to be, not who he is now. Picked up on a recommendation from Elliot Bay Book Company.

Connections

• Self-hatred / Self-respect — the narrator draws a line between hating past versions of himself and being “fine with myself right now.”

Highlights

• “In middle school I just had a hard time making friends. I don’t know why. If I knew why, it wouldn’t have been so impossible. One thing was that I just usually wasn’t interested in what other kids were interested in. For a lot of kids, it was sports or music, two things that I just couldn’t really get into. Music really only interested me as a soundtrack to a movie, and as for sports, I mean, come on. It’s some guys throwing some balls around, or trying to knock each other over, and you’re supposed to watch them for three hours at a time, and it just sort of seems like a waste. I dunno. I don’t want to sound condescending, so I’m not going to say anything else, except that it is literally impossible to imagine a thing dumber than sports.”
• “This book probably makes it seem like I hate myself and everything I do. But that’s not totally true. I mostly just hate every person I’ve ever been. I’m actually fine with myself right now.” Self-hatred Self-respect