Catch a Falling Star, Eileen Merriman, Penguin, 2023

There is something immensely satisfying when you pick the perfect book from your pile to match your mood and reading needs. I am a big fan of Eileen Merriman’s ability to craft stories and characters, whether medical or dystopian, that carry you out of your everyday rhythms with heart and flair. After a week or so of excessive sleep deprivation, it felt slightly ironic to settle in with a character who is also sleep deprived (way worse than me!). But this stellar YA novel kept me hooked until the final page.

Catch a Falling Star is Eileen’s prequel to the heart-wrenching, award-winning Catch Me When You Fall (2018). In the latter, Alexandria Byrd is a leukemia patient who meets and falls for Jamie Orange, as he does for her. In the prequel, we shift to the voice of Jamie, and trace his bumpy pathway to the clinic where he eventually meets Alex. Much water under the bridge before that point. And that turbulent water is Jamie’s story.

Jamie adores musicals. He is a big reader. His parents are separated. He loathes Maths. He gets the part of the donkey in Shrek. He fancies Frankie who is playing Princess Fiona but she is going out with his good friend. Jamie’s world is crumbling and his head is skew whiff. He is in the thick of teenage messiness where every path exposes tough choices, fractures wellbeing, compromises relationships, dissolves responsibility. The warning signs pierce as you read: the suicidal thoughts, the self doubt, the diminished motivation, severe sleep deprivation.

Why did this novel hit the nail for me so beautifully? It is character rich, the voice of Jamie so gripping, the dialogue on point, the pace of the narrative sweetly judged. On the one hand, you are caught up in heart-in-the-mouth vulnerability and decision making; it makes you care and it gives the narrative depth and complexity of heart. But it is also complex because it is rich in reference. George Orwell’s 1984 is present along with Haruki Murikami’s 1Q84. Jamie attempts to write a novel that mashes 1984 and zombies (he would much rather be novel writing than figuring maths problems). His English teacher draws on a wider scope of educational aims than national standards and offers inspiration. Musicals are listed and quoted from. Phantom of the Opera playing on the headphones offers vital relief. Such complexity anchors the narrative, along with the stretched and essential relationships, in a complex world, a world that draws upon both light and dark. The concern and support of those close to Jamie is another significant comfort-anchor as you read.

At the back of the book is a welcome list of places to seek help: telephone numbers, helplines, key organisations. It is a reminder that mental health issues and suicidal thoughts, mania or depression, affect an individual but they also have a ripple effect upon friends and family. There is also a list of famous and not so famous people who have suffered from manic depression (bipolar affective disorder). The presence of both lists, along with the cradle of relationships in the book, underlines the significance of not being alone, of not feeling bereft of support and lifeboats. I know this as a cancer patient.

Ah. Triple ah. Quadruple ah. Catch a Falling Star is a sad, contemporary, thought-provoking, must-read story that revives you no matter how little sleep you have had! The word I take with me is hope, the image I hold is two teenagers bonding over books and coffee. Utterly riveting! Utterly humane.

Eileen Merriman’s first young adult novel, Pieces of You, was published in 2017, and was a finalist in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and a Storylines Notable Book. Since then, a stream of novels for adults and young adults have followed. In addition to being a regular finalist in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, Merriman was a finalist in the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel and Moonlight Sonata was longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction 2020. Editions of some of her young adult novels have been released in Germany, Turkey and the UK and three have been optioned for film or TV, including the Black Spiral Trilogy. She works as a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital.

Penguin page