Nerdfighters are familiar with the name Esther Earl, who was a fellow John Green fan and activist, posting YouTube videos under the name, cookie4monster4. In 2010, at the age of 16, Esther passed away after complications due to thyroid cancer. However, she didn’t first do so without leaving her mark on not just Nerdfighteria, but on the world as a whole.
Esther is remembered for her outgoing personality to her charitable participation alongside John Green and the Harry Potter Alliance. People will without doubt remember her for her cheerful and grateful attitude in face of the large struggles she was dealing with. Following her death, her family organized the This Star Won’t Go Out Foundation, an organization devoted to aiding children who are fighting cancer.
This month, in Esther’s honor, Dutton Juvenile will publish the book, This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl. The book is a compilation of the writings and sketches of Esther and was put together by her parents, Lori and Wayne Earl.
“Esther was a great friend… to me personally. And for a long time she has been a huge part in the life of the Nerdfighter community. And our community, in turn, was a huge part in her life,” said John Green in a video following Esther’s passing. “Esther was an amazing kid. She was astonishingly empathetic. She was really thoughtful. She was very funny. She wasn’t an angel or a model of perfection… she was a person–she was a teenager.”
You can check out the book trailer here:
Said John Green, “I think when people read This Star Won’t Go Out, they will understand the experience of illness better, but I also think that they’ll meet an exceptional young woman. And that’s one of the great pleasures of reading the book.”
This Star Won’t Go Out is scheduled to be released January 28th, 2014.
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