{ Clouds by Laura Sobiech - TLC Book Tour }

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (October 13, 2020)

Originally published as Fly a Little Higher and now updated and revised to coincide with the film release of Clouds, Laura Sobiech tells the amazing, true story behind the song and the movie.

“Okay, Lord, you can have him. But if he must die, I want it to be for something big. I want someone’s life to be changed forever.” This is what Laura Sobeich prayed when she found out her seventeen-year-old son had only one year to live. With this desperate prayer, she released her son to God’s will.

At that point, Zach Sobiech was just another teenager battling cancer. When his mother told him to think about writing goodbye letters to family and friends, he decided instead to write songs. One of them, “Clouds,” captured hearts and changed lives, making him an international sensation.

This story is a testament to what can happen when you live as if each day might be your last. It’s a story about the human spirit. It shows how God used a dying boy from a small town in Minnesota to touch the hearts of millions—including top executives in the entertainment industry, major music artists, news anchors, talk show hosts, actors, priests and pastors, and schoolchildren across the globe. And above all, it’s an example of the amazing things that happen when someone shares the most precious thing he has—himself.

“I’m not a musician; I’m just a filmmaker, and my prayer is that you get an opportunity—both through the reading of this beautiful book and the watching of our film based on it—to experience what I will fail to put into words: the magic and inspiration of Zachary David Sobiech.”

—Justin Baldoni, filmmaker and director of Clouds

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

About Laura Sobiech

In 2009 Laura Sobiech was living a very average life. She was married to her husband, Rob, for 20 years, had four children and was working two part-time jobs and volunteering as a firefighter/EMT at her local fire department.

Then, on a gloomy day in November 2009, everything changed. Her fourteen-year-old son, Zach, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of pediatric bone cancer. As Zach battled cancer, Laura blogged about it on their Caring Bridge website.

In May 2012 Zach learned he had only a year to live and, as a way to say “goodbye” to his family and friends, he wrote a beautiful song called “Clouds.” The song touched not only family and friends, but through the help of a team of people who believed in Zach’s music and message, it reached millions of people across the globe.

In May 2013 a documentary called My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech was released on the Soul Pancake YouTube channel. The video went viral and reached over 12.3 million people within months of it’s release. And the numbers continue to grow.

The week of Zach’s death, on May 20, 2013, his song reached #1 on iTunes and made it’s way up Billboard’s Top 100 chart, debuting at #26, and topping the Rock Digital Downloads at #1.

Laura’s memoir, FLY A LITTLE HIGHER, How God Answered a Mom’s Small Prayer in a Big Way, is about her family’s amazing, joyful and heartbreaking journey with Zach through cancer and his incredible last year of life.

Learn more about Laura, Zach and the book at flyalittlehigher.com. #flyhigher

 

REVIEW:

Goodness, this was not an easy book to read.  I think maybe because of the state of mind I am in at the moment, with my mother in law's passing due to cancer.  I wasn't ready for another book that focused on death and cancer, and especially one that dealt with the passing of the author's 17 year old son.

 

Laura Sobiech wrote a memoir in 2012, it was called FLY A LITTLE HIGHER, How God Answered a Mom’s Small Prayer in a Big Way. 

 

Through Zach's last year of life, she kept a record of the family's journey.  She was able to get it all down and write her way through the pain and fear.  This is not an easy book, it is not something that you go into and can detach yourself emotionally.

We are all mothers, we have children, and none of us want to think of our children ever having to face such a horrible merciless disease.  I don't even know what to say, it is heartbreaking to think about, but I also think it is important to understand that through these diagnosis, are families that are fighting not only a disease, but the brutal effects it has on everyone around the sick person.

Zach didn't give up, even to his last day.  He was a fighter, and he chose to face the cancer head on, write music and laugh to the very end.

Laura does a phenomenal job of sharing every moment, her thoughts and feelings, the ups, the downs, the fight and the tough decisions that none of us ever have to think about. 

Clouds is the name of the song that Zach wrote during his illness.  It became an immediate hit and is now the name of the film that is being released by Disney, which tells the story of Zach Sobiech.  I want so badly to watch the film and I know I will, but I'm not sure I am ready for it at this moment.  The book itself was heartbreaking to read, and again, I am smack dab in the middle of grieving my sweet mother in law's passing, just a month ago.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Thomas Nelson for providing me with a review copy.