Catch a Falling Star

In the page-turner prequel to her acclaimed 'Catch Me When You Fall,' acclaimed New Zealand YA author Eileen Merriman returns to trace the backstory of magnificently named Jamie Orange, the magnetic and troubled love interest from that novel. Just as readers of Merriman’s work hoped, 'Catch a Falling Star' illuminates the spiraling buildup to Jamie's eventual mental health diagnosis with propulsive drama and psychological focus.

Fifteen-year-old Jamie inhabits a world fueled by musical theatre, beloved books, and an irrepressible creative drive that keeps him furiously story-spinning and songwriting into the wee hours. But amidst the highs are increasingly ominous lows: suicidal thoughts, dangerous impulsivity, and an at-times-frustrating narrator's voice.

Jamie's charismatic confidence dazzles friends and crushes alike...until it doesn’t, relationships fraying under the weight of his unpredictable behaviour. Still, the inclusion of a host of supporting characters like Jamie’s affectionately exasperated Norwegian mother offer comforting counterweights even as troubles mount.

When Jamie lands a major role in the school musical alongside his secret crush Frankie, small, temporary triumphs can’t hold back the storm clouds for long. And in Merriman’s signature empathic style, she neither diminishes nor romanticises mental illness, navigating Jamie’s incremental unravelling with sensitivity. There is an ache for this quirky, creative boy even as readers recognise the hurt his actions cause, making his ultimate diagnosis equally crushing and cathartic.

By novel’s close, Jamie gains insight into the inherited anguish linking him to a deceased uncle, along with tools to manage the "speeding train" in his head. Yet Merriman artfully dodges psychoanalysing him, leaving us to draw conclusions about motivations and influences organically. Ranking among Merriman’s most affecting and textured works to date, 'Catch a Falling Star' blazes with hard-won hope.