And the Stars Were Burning Brightly

Product Information

There is at the start of each chapter a short monologue from Al which was written so beautifully that you will want to keep rereading each passage over and over again.

It captures the voice and experience of the teenagers involved and brings each and every character to life. Your selection was perfect for our children and what really made the difference was your ability to engage with each child, discuss their interests and help them to choose a suitable book based on your extensive knowledge of the books you were selling. We collaborate with authors across all adult fiction genres, and also handle children’s books, young adult and cross-over fiction. I think it could be very helpful for someone in a tough spot to read and I think it’s a very emotional story. Such a powerful and thought provoking tale told through the voices of Nate, Megan and Al which was a really good touch.The one thing that rankled me slightly was the way the dialect was written, but that may be a personal preference. I’ll admit that some scenes are quite troubling to read, but they bring to life the fact that this does happen in real life and I commend the author for bringing these topics to our attention. Once you get past the urban “youth speak” however, you are into a twisted story of desolate loss and cruelty, told in a very insightful way.

Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Danielle Jawando has beautifully channelled her own trials as a teenager into a heartbreaking book for the teens of today. I think this book would be invaluable for them, in fact I think a book like this might well be the difference between someone seeking help and someone cracking under the pressure.

Nathan has to deal with all kinds of emotions such as guilt, anger, despair and grief to try to try to understand why Al did it. And the Stars Were Burning Brightly reveals events slowly and ends with some truly troubling scenes of pure cruelty, but it can be hard to follow at times, particularly for those who are not familiar with the book. These issues shouldn’t be diluted to make it more palatable, your heart should break as you navigate this with the characters. Your words, like your reviews, bring books to life and give them a voice before the front cover is even turned.