DEAR GOD, HELP!!! LOVE, EARL

Earl brings his skewed self-esteem and scathingly funny lowdown to this continuing saga of three oddball friends—Earl, obsessively honest Rosie Swanson, and Max, master of the coined word (``The guy's pewage, Earl''). Each week, fist-wielding bully Eddie extorts money from timid, overweight Earl, whose impending poverty drives the friends to extremes. Rosie and Max convince Eddie that he has, in a recent attack, actually killed Earl. Posed photos and cemetery shots buoy their case, but it's Earl's mother who nails down the plot with some well-timed (if innocent) remarks. Eddie cries and is told the truth, but a little more extortion is in order: the threesome won't tell about Eddie's tears if he promises to pick Earl and Max first for teams in gym class. With loads of comic moments, Park's book will crack readers up with its morbidly funny plans and guffaw-inducing repartee. (Fiction. 8-10)