What Adults Can Learn From "this star won't go out"

1. This is the 2nd post in a series about the books I am loving right now.

   
   

   this star won't go out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl
   by Esther Earl, Wayne Earl, Lori Earl, and John Green

Adults forget...not because we are old, but because we want to believe that we weren't something that we surely were.

this star won't go out was my wakeup call to this fact, and it was a call that hit me over the course of the 2 or 3 days it took me to cry my way through its pages.

What do we forget?  We forget what being a teenager was like.  We forget the emotion, the closeness and importance of friends, the real worries and concerns about the future.  We forget that many of us were worthy, deep thinking, caring, fragile people.  As adults, we discount the intelligence of teen's thoughts and the truth of their reality.  I think we do this because we know our adult lives are harder than our teenage lives were.  We see them and think just you wait.  Lately, I have had a hard time seeing them as anything other than horrible little creatures who only want to live in fake, on-line worlds.  I have been wrong. I am wrong.  Ester Earl and her family and friends have taught me that, and I'm glad they did!


So the book...
To talk about  this book, first I have to talk about another book that most of the young adult world (and some of the adult world) has heard of.  It is called The Fault in Our Stars.  It was written by John Green, a very popular YA author and on-line personality.  Google "John Green" and you will be immersed in hours of reading and videos that educate you, make you laugh, make you want to be awesome, feed your obsessions with all things nerdy and Harry Potter, and well you get the idea.  He is pretty fantastic.

Anyway, John Green was writing a book about teens with cancer.  While he was writing it, he met a girl named Ester Earl at a Harry Potter convention called LeakyCon. (Um yeah, how cool is that?)  He happened to be her favorite author, and before she left this world, she became one of his favorite people. No joke, he created "Ester Day" and celebrates it every year on her birthday in the way that she asked it to be celebrated.  Anyway, though The Fault in Our Stars is not based on Ester Earl's life, other than the fact that she had cancer and had to be hooked up to oxygen 24 hours a day, she influenced the way he told the story.  It is a book I would recommend, but you don't need to read it to be impacted by Ester's story.

this star won't go out is a compilation of Ester's diaries, drawings, letters to her family, and on-line chat transcripts, her parent's entries on the CaringBridge website, and essays about her from her friends, family, and doctors.  Each piece of this book is a testament to the world that we- adults- need to give credit and validity to the teens in our lives.  To truly understand any of the lessons I learned, you need to read the book yourself.  I promise you that you will cry your way through it (if you have an ounce of humanity in you).  You will cry a lot, and I think you will be glad for it.

The overarching reminders in this book are obvious and magnificently important.  Our time on this earth is fragile and fleeting.  Love is what matters. Thank God for every moment you have with the people you care about. Cancer sucks! That right there is enough of a lesson for everyone, but I want to take the time to share what I learned about the generation of teens from this book that the world as a whole needs to see and needs to search out.

1. On-line friends are real friends. Don't discount their importance.
2. Teens worries and emotions are valid. We can help them through, but not if we tell them to just get over themselves.
3. Not every teenager is a self-centered brat. They just aren't.
4. Teens love ferociously.  They love their families. They love their friends.  They aren't just concerned with romantic love.
5. They can change the world.  Give them the chance!

And just because I always feel the need to end on a more up beat note...These are the top 5 things I feel the need to know or do now because I read this book.

1. Am I too old to be a "nerdfighter" or go to Leaky Con or like Harry Potter Wizard Rock (Wrock) music?  (please say no)
2. I need to find out more about and catch up on the "wrock" music world.
3. I must carve out hours to watch Ester Earl's and John Green's vlogs. He has a gazillion YouTube channels. Just google him.
4. I want to join the Harry Potter Alliance.  It is not just a crazy fan group.  They are changing the world.
5. What am I doing to help decrease "worldsuck"?  How can I help teenagers become part of answer to decreasing "worldsuck"?

Yeah, so I'm gonna go teach some cool kids some cool stuff now.  Go get this book. The tears will be more than worth it!