Diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age twelve, Esther (Persian for "Star") Earl was an exceptionally bright and talented - but very normal - teenager. She lived a hope-filled life as she navigate her physical decline with grace. A cheerful, positive, and encouraging daughter, sister, and friend, Esther died in 2010, shortly after turning sixteen, but not before inspiring thousands through her growing online presence.
Book Review:
I read this book last year, after I first bought it at a local book store (BUY LOCAL). It didn't take me long to wish that I was Esther's friend, to feel for her friends and family, or to cry like a baby.
Esther, who inspired John Green to write The Fault in Our Stars, which he dedicated to her but is not about her, was so talented and so loved. John Green's introduction which starts out with the best sentence ever, "My friendship with Esther Earl began, as so many great love stories do, at a Harry Potter convention," shows how even though he was old enough to be her father they had an amazing friendship. That friendship was so amazing that he and his bother Hank, whom if you don't know them go watch their vlogbrothers videos on Youtube or read John's books, started a holiday for her. So every year on her birthday, August 3rd, she wanted everyone to celebrate love, not romantic love, but the love between friends, family, and even coworkers.
This book is just plain amazing.
Book Discussion: SPOILERS
Esther Earl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while living in France with her family, but this is only after living in Saudi Arabia, which was after being born in the US. She saw much of the world at a young age, while she was always active and seeking knowledge. She loved her older sisters Abby and Angie, her younger brother Graham, and later youngest brother Abe. Her father was a pastor. Her mother was an educator.
Her prognosis quickly worsened and the family had to move to Boston so that she could be close to the children's hospital. Eventually she had to always be on oxygen, her family had to convert their dining room downstairs into her bedroom, and her medical team grew. She went to Leaky Con where she met John Green. She was a main member of Catitude which founded Project for Awesome (http://www.projectforawesome.com/). She had more Online Friends than IRL friends.
She used her Make - A - Wish to bring 7 of those Online Friends, who from now on are just going to be considered IRL friends as well, out to Boston for the weekend so that they could all be together and have fun. This was only a month before she passed away. John Green even came, at his own person expense, to be with Esther.
Her last days were brutal and uncomfortable, to the point that when I read that she passed away I was relieved for her and her family, who watched her go. She was with God, whom she wholeheartedly loved and had faith in. Finally she was free of this sickness, of all of the poison that she had to put in her body to kill the poison that was killing her.
This is the second time that I've read this book in a day, while listening to Wrock (Wizard-Rock, rock music based on the Harry Potter Universe) in a day, really only in a couple of hours. And I cried like a baby.
Esther Earl, Happy Birthday and I love you.
Pages: 431 Rate: 5/5
