The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- Connection

I most recently completed the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  In this book, a girl named Hazel Lancaster has cancer.  Hazel is depressed because she knows she is going to die soon.  She needs some happiness in her life.  This happiness comes in the form of Augustus Waters, Hazel's new crush that she meets in her cancer support group.  They eventually start dating after they go on a trip to Amsterdam together to meet Hazel's favorite author.  They have a connection because Augustus used to have cancer, but doesn't anymore.  He had his leg amputated because of it.  Augustus and Hazel can relate to each other, and they fall in love.  Then, something tragic happens.  Augustus finds out that his cancer has came back.  He is gonna die because it is everywhere in his body.  Hazel and Augustus still spend a lot of time together, and she takes care of him.  When Augustus dies, Hazel is heartbroken because she has lost this great happiness in her life.  She will forever embrace her first love, Augustus Waters.

I chose this book because I heard from many people how great of a story it is.  They said that it is heartwarming, yet sad.  At first, I didn't want to read it because I heard it was sad.  Then, everyone was saying how good the movie was too, and I finally decided to read the book.  I thought that the book was amazingly written!  I really like reading fiction books that tell interesting stories, and this was one of those books.

A connection that I can make with this book is a story of a girl named Esther Earl.  She is a girl just like Hazel who had cancer.  Sadly, Esther has had her life taken by cancer just like Augustus Waters.  When Esther was alive, she had a diary in which she documented her life, her struggles and times of happiness.  She was a great writer who had a voice in her writing.  She believed that a short life could be a good life.  This is just what Augustus believed.  Her diary was made into a book called This Star Won't Go Out.  In fact, the author of The Fault in Our Stars, John Green, wrote the introduction to this book after Esther and him became friends.  Esther's journey inspired John Green to write The Fault in Our Stars and he dedicated the book to her.  Some parts in The Fault in Our Stars reflect Esther.  For example, Esther and Hazel are alike, but the whole novel is not about Esther's life.  Both of them had thyroid cancer and carried around an oxygen tank.  The Earl family created a foundation called This Star Won't Go Out.  It gives money to families with children who have life-threating cancer to help pay medical expenses.  The foundation was made in memory of Esther Earl.  These two similar stories are very inspirational and sad, yet heartwarming.
This is the website of the This Star Won't Go Out foundation: http://tswgo.org/index.html
The attached video is about Esther and her book, This Star Won't Go Out: