This Star Won't Go Out -- Book Review

 

This Star Won't Go Out

Esther Earl

A collection of the journals, fiction, letters, and sketches of the late Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Photographs and essays by family and friends will help to tell Esther’s story along with an introduction by award-winning author John Green who dedicated his #1 bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars to her.

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I did not think that I was going to like this book as much as I did, but man, after just 11 pages, my throat was already constricted and I already wanted to cry. Esther's story is one of a kind, not only because she got to meet and be friends with John Green and all that stuff, but more because she was a wonderful, quirky kind of person--one you'd definitely want to be friends with.

This Star Won't Go Out is a collection of photos, messages, anecdotes, and words that Esther herself wrote in her journals over the years. It is a great way of showing who she was and what she has done in her brief but meaningful life. It was also a great way of showcasing what her family felt about her, and how she felt about them, as well. The colorful pages of the book and the amazing design also makes you realize how valuable and colorful her life was--and is, as she lives through these pages.

Esther's story is beautiful: she was smart and funny, self-deprecating at times, and very much a dreamer. She loved Harry Potter--she lived and breathed the wizarding world which actually makes this all the more special because I'm a Potterhead myself and it was good reading how one girl loved Harry's world so much, too. She loved books, she loved doodling and drawing and writing whatever she could. In a way, I could relate to her.

"Death is but the next great adventure", Dumbledore says and I believe Esther, wherever she is right now, is living in her own personal heaven--complete with lots of flowers and without any kind of pain. Esther stays alive because of this book and because of the people who loved her--and who continues to love her. You will be touched by her story, and be touched by who she was. It's not difficult to love her, and though she never got to meet her future self, she lived a great life. And that was enough--it was more than enough.

"Do what makes you happy. Or, do what makes you happy with the people who make you happy. Or, do nothing with the people who make you happy." --Esther Earl