Chasing the Bright Side

Starred review from September 2, 2019
In this spectacular debut, Ekstrom, founder of Headbands of Hope, which donates to cancer research for every headband sale, provides a delightful guide to making one’s dreams come true. “I’m not going to tell you to put on a happy face and skip down the street high-fiving everyone who walks by,” she promises in her opener. Instead, she offers strategies for embracing optimism—where one can see and understand the bad, but still believe there can be good—and learning to feel comfortable with its twin qualities of fear and possibility. Ekstrom, great-niece of Bernie Madoff, developed this attitude after her family lost all of its money to the disgraced financier. After interning at Disney World and Make-a-Wish, Ekstrom noticed many girls with cancer wearing headbands instead of wigs and hats, and founded her company from her dorm room at North Carolina State University. She shares the ideas that propelled her: letting the wonder be bigger than the limits, documenting and celebrating “the wins,” having self-confidence, and getting motivated “just for today” every day. Ekstrom’s winding life story and uplifting message of betting on oneself in all situations will appeal to readers at any stage of their life or career.