How Do I Love Thee

Popular young adult novelist, Lurlene McDaniel, published her thirty-fourth work of fiction, How Do I Love Thee: Three Stories, in 2002. The author, who currently lives in Tennessee, tells the tale of three different young couples figuring out how to love each other. McDaniel is the author of more than seventy novels for young readers, including Don’t Die, My Love (1995) which was a global bestseller. She is especially popular in the US for her dramatic plotlines, emotional characters, and uplifting endings. Several of her works have been adapted to TV mini-series or films.

The title, How Do I Love Thee, is taken from the iconic Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem “How Do I Love Thee?” where the speaker says she will love her beloved even more in death. Despite its occasionally melodramatic storylines, the work is suggested for grades six to ten.

Themes include resilience in the face of death, chronic illness, and the meaning of unconditional love. McDaniel’s characters frequently deal with health issues, such as cancer and diabetes, or the death of a loved one from suicide or drug overdose. McDaniel has said in interviews that she was inspired to write about young adults facing serious illnesses after her son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of three.



In the first story, “Night Vision,” Brett Noland tries to enliven the life of an unhappy young woman with a rare skin condition. Brett, a high school senior in Massachusetts, is very sympathetic toward the downtrodden because he is a leukemia survivor. His illness is in remission; it could come back at any moment. He bonds with Shayla, a shy woman with a severe allergy to the sun. They meet after Brett sees her dancing in the moonlight. She sees him looking at her and asks him bluntly, “Why are you spying on me?” They have a sincere and open relationship from that point on.

Brett has recently moved to this town where people call Shayla the “Ghost Girl,” as she only ventures outside during the night. He learns that her condition, xeroderma pigmentosum (“XP” for short) is life-threatening. They fall in love. They share vampire jokes. Shayla is accepted into Brett’s group of friends, and their future looks bright. Sadly, one early morning before the sun has risen, depressed over the death of her best friend, Shayla falls asleep on a boat. When she wakes up, the sun is completely out. The burn she receives is so severe she dies in the hospital days later.

The second story, “Bobby’s Girl,” follows the tough decision Dana must make regarding her love life. Currently, Dana is dating Bobby. She is happy, even though, in secret, she once dated Bobby’s stepbrother, Steve. Steve is a star football player; one day his vision blurs and he endures debilitating migraines.



When she learns that Bobby’s brother has terminal brain cancer and wants to date her again, Dana must choose between the two men: does she want to be with a real boyfriend (Bobby) or with her steamy summer romance from long ago (Steve). Her decision is complicated by the fact that Bobby has always felt inferior to his brother; should she break up with Bobby to date Steve, Bobby’s self-esteem may be irrevocably damaged. Dana manages to be a good friend to a dying Steve and a loyal girlfriend to a dependent Bobby, though, in the end, she chooses to be with Steve. Bobby takes it surprisingly well, believing this is the best thing for his terminally ill stepbrother.

In the final story, “Laura’s Heart,” Laura Carson, a sixteen-year-old beauty, has been going to the hospital at least one night a week for trouble with her heart. It turns out a virus is weakening her heart. The challenges to her heart’s functions are only increasing, and the doctors determine that Laura needs a heart transplant.

Laura falls in love with a twenty-one-year-old orderly, Ramon, who works the night shift, helping the hospital to maintain an order of cleanliness. Her parents vehemently oppose the bond, but Laura persists. Ramon suggests that they should terminate their relationship because he wants to respect her parent’s wishes, but Laura refuses.



Ramon used to be part of a gang. Though he has sworn off that lifestyle, certain gang members continue to approach him, trying to implicate him in their various schemes. In a surprising twist, the young hospital attendant is shot and killed. Fortunately, his heart is saved, and it turns out his heart will be transplanted into Laura’s body. While the news devastates her, Laura finds herself wanting to remain alive knowing that, on some level, the two of them will always be together.