Everything Is Tuberculosis

#1 New York Times bestseller • #1 Washington Post bestseller • #1 Indie Bestseller • USA Today Bestseller

John Green, award-winning author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

AN ACCLAIMED BEST BOOK OF 2025: NPR, Scientific American, Science News, Booklist, BookPage, Chicago Sun-Times. Goodreads Readers’ Choice Nonfiction Winner.

Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), and The Fault in Our Stars. His many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers) and co-created the online educational series CrashCourse (youtube.com/crashcourse). You can join the millions who follow him on Twitter @johngreen and Instagram @johngreenwritesbooks or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com.

John lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“Earnest and empathetic.” —The New York Times

“The real magic of Green’s writing is the deeply considerate, human touch that goes into every word.” —The Associated Press

″Told with the intelligence, wit, and tragedy that have become hallmarks of the author’s work.... This is the story of us.” —Slate

“Everything Is Tuberculosis makes an urgent case for the kind of global health initiatives that the U.S. has been turning against. It’s also witty, cogent and achingly beautiful.” —NPR

“In this urgent and compassionate work, John Green shows how this illness is still the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and he does it with sharp reporting and deeply emotional storytelling. His voice resonates with clarity and conviction.” —Scientific American

“Green’s work serves as an important reminder for all people of goodwill what true justice looks like.” —National Catholic Reporter

“Everything Is Tuberculosis isn’t about an ancient disease. It’s about what it means to be human, how we understand suffering, how we respond to it, and what happens when we look away.” —Psychology Today

“Absolutely fascinating and told masterfully.” —Rebecca Yarros, “What Rebecca Yarros Loved This Year in Culture,” Vulture

“An exceptional combination of memoir, medical history and cultural analysis. . . . Memorably probes the intersections of medicine and human emotion.” —BookPage, starred review

“Henry’s story is hopeful and heartbreaking; readers will be rooting for him and his family the whole way through.” —SLJ, starred review

“Green writes expertly of the illness’s history, causes, and cure. . . . Makes what might be inaccessible accessible.” —Booklist, starred review

“In these challenging times, the global health community is fortunate to count on Green and his inspiring advocacy.” —The Lancet

“A story of hope and tragedy that feels terribly relevant at a time when the global healthcare system is coming under attack.” —The AV Club


Praise for John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed
#1 New York Times Bestseller • #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller • #1 Indie Bestseller • USA Today Bestseller • International Bestseller • Goodreads Choice Nonfiction Book of the Year

“Masterful. A beautiful, timely book about the human condition—and a timeless reminder to pay attention to your attention.” —Adam Grant, #1 bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking
“Essential to the human conversation. John Green whispered the truth of humanity onto the page.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Charming, curious, and heartfelt. Each essay feels like its own adventure on a journey toward understanding our world and humanity’s impact on it.” —NPR, Best Books of the Year