And The Stars Were Burning Brightly
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An extraordinary novel about loss, understanding and the importance of speaking up when all you want to do is shut down. From an incredible new talent, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Gayle Foreman, Jennifer Niven and Nikesh Shukla. Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize Shortlisted for the Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award ?Longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal When fifteen-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al, has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart. Al was special. Al was talented. Al had so many dreams ... so why did he do it? Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan decides to retrace Al’s footsteps. As he does, he meets Megan, Al's former classmate, who is as determined as Nathan to keep Al's memory alive. 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? #BurnBright Praise for And the Stars Were Burning Brightly: ‘Jawando’s writing is incredibly raw and real; I felt completely immersed’ Alice Oseman 'An outstanding and compassionate debut' Patrice Lawrence 'One of the brightest up and coming stars of the YA world' Alex Wheatle ‘An utter page turner from a storming new talent. Passionate, committed and shines a ray of light into the darkest places - the YA novel of 2020!’ Melvin Burgess Warning - this novel contains themes that some readers may find upsetting, including suicide and intense bullying.
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And the stars were burning brightly is a book about hope, friendship, and family.
The two protagonists are Megan and Nathan, two very different teenagers brought together by a tragedy: Al's death.
Al is the weird kid everyone picks on at school, just because he was obsessed with stars and poetry and didn't fit in. He's also Nathan's brother and Megan's friend and the continuous bullying brought him to kill himself.
Both Megan and Nathan blame themselves because they could have done more. Megan hid the fact that she Al's friend because she wanted to fit in with the cool kids and didn't want to be bullied too while Nathan didn't pay much attention to his brother because he was busy with his friends. To honor his death, Megan sets up a Facebook memorial while Nathan tries to understand why his brother would do something so extreme.
Nowadays, teenagers feel pressured to conform to the norms of society and pretend to be someone they're not or they look up online to models and influencers and feel bad about their body. It's so important to raise awareness about this and I think the author really managed to talk about this issue in a flawless way. I love that Megan realizes that there's no point in trying to change yourself for the sake of others and she encourages everyone to be more like Al and stay true to themselves.
I really loved the message of this book and I think it's relatable for every age. At some point in our lives, we all felt pressured to hide parts of ourselves, just to appear more interesting in the eyes of others.
The ending was very heartwarming, and I loved that everyone got their little happy ending.
To sum up, this was a great book and I'd recommend it to everyone that felt lost at some point of their lives.
