And the Stars Were Burning Brightly

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She really helped me to bring out the light and the shade when it comes to something like death and losing a loved one. Prepare to be wrung out reading this, get yourself a comfy spot, a box of tissues and put your phone on silent. Described as ‘An outstanding and compassionate debut’ by Patrice Lawrence, Danielle Jawando’s YA novel And The Stars Were Burning Brightly is an extraordinary novel about loss, love and the power of speaking up when all you want to do is shut down. Crucially important to talk more about mental health, especially young male mental health, and suicide prevention. The way it

It explores the difficulties young people, particularly men, have with expressing their feelings openly and asking for help. Nathan’s grief leaves him angry, confused and aggressive, and like so many young men he finds it hard to discuss his emotions.

As is so often the case Nate cannot understand why his brother, a straight A student and a brilliant artist would choose to end his life. You really shine a light on some of the pressures facing young people today, particularly bullying and the power of social media. It captures the voice and experience of the teenagers involved and brings each and every character to life. The plot is well paced, nicely scattering character development and plot revelations to keep it moving along without ever feeling rushed or slow.

This experience has been fantastic primarily for the children, the school and also for me (professionally). The stories are intertwined beautifully, and in the desperation of not wanting to give away spoilers, I will say that you will be giving away a part of yourself when reading this book. This book really deserves 2 separate reviews; one of the story itself and one of the profound effect the background to the story will have on the reader. The book deals with a suicide of 15 year Al, of his family, of his friend, of love, of enemies, of that moment that I'm sure we all felt as teenagers, where you have to decide to stick up for what you know is right or for going along with the cool crowd. This book holds such an important message and should be made an essential part of senior school reading.This just doesn't make sense to Nate, he can't understand how he didn't know that his brother was struggling, he sincerely felt he had everything to live for. Danielle Jawando captured the issues in this book with honesty, she didn’t hold back on the difficult stuff, this was an absolute strength of this book. I found the relationship between the family heart-warming, the way both Nathan and Saul treated their younger sister Phoebe was both touching and poignant. The book feels real and genuine and as a result, it was an emotional rollercoaster and I love it when books elicit real feelings when I’m reading them. Together they start seeking answers, but will either of them be able to handle the truth about Al’s death when they eventually discover what happened?

Nate and Megan go through a traumatic and life changing experience after losing Al and their awakening to the impact of the social media and “belonging” culture is powerful and tragic yet ultimately inspires hope. Ultimately though, Danielle Jawando manages to make this uplifting and hopeful – a story of loss and love and finding your place in a life now off kilter – where possibilities like the stars, burn brightly. Tara and Lewi were more subtle in their connections to the situation and how events finally wove together was pretty shocking. They use slang, they swear, they make mistakes – which is reflected in the text which again made it feel more authentic to me.Her other friends never knew that she was close to Al, and, as the story unfolds, we see that they’re not all that supportive of Megan in general. Both characters are incredibly likeable, despite their flaws, and watching their individually journeys and the development of their relationships, is a joy, if painful at times.