When the Stars Begin to Fall

by James Lincoln Collier

Angry and frustrated that his entire family is considered to be poor trash, fourteen-year-old Harry defies his father and attempts to prove that a factory is polluting their small Adirondack community

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

James Lincoln Collier (born June 27, 1928) is a journalist, author, and professional musician.

Collier's notable literary works include My Brother Sam Is Dead (1974), a Newbery Honor book that was also named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and nominated for a National Book Award in 1975. He also wrote a children's book titled The Empty Mirror (2004), The Teddy Bear Habit (1967), about an insecure boy whose beatnik guitar teacher turns out to be a crook, and Rich and Famous (1975), sequel to The Teddy Bear Habit. His list of children's books also includes Chipper (2001), about a young boy in a gang. His writings for adults include numerous books on jazz, including biographies of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. He has also contributed entries on jazz-related subjects to the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

In addition to his writing, Collier is an accomplished jazz musician who plays the trombone professionally.

Reviews

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars.
Possibly the least satisfying book I've read in a while, with seemingly no point except to tell kids that doing what's right is a waste of time if the grownups says so.
The writing was good enough, but most of the characters felt flat, and like I said, the message seemed to be one of just giving up and agreeing with whatever the majority might say. I feel like I must have missed something.

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

AUDIOBOOK:

didn't finish.
couldnt' get into it

[Ariana Shaw-Kerkhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Everyone in Timber Falls knows that his family is trash, and sometimes Harry White thinks he’ll always be trash. But he can’t help getting angry- what had he and his sister, Helen, ever done to anybody? When he discovers the local carpet factory is polluting the river, he comes up with a bold expose to make people sit up and show him respect-if his plan works. He wants to do it alone even though he knows he’s asking for trouble. As trash, Harry’s got nothing to lose. Or does he?” This describes the book “When the Stars Begin to Fall” with a 770 lexile level and it is by James Lincoln Collier.

In the beginning of the book, Harry and his sister Helen did not know that they were “trash”, well that is until someone told them. The children’s parents weren’t the easiest to live with; The mom had a sickness which made her tired all the time so she couldn’t do much for the kids, and the father “didn’t have a normal job” so he was gone all of the time and he also steals. One day at school during lunch, his sister had enough of this so she ran off crying and never came home after that, they could never find her. Harry didn’t have many friends so he decided that he wanted to find a pipe by the river right outside of a factory, he hopes to gain respect from people for this. He never does find the pipe but he does gain confidence and a few friends.

I would recommend reading this book, I really enjoyed it. It had a lot of suspense and it was very interesting, you never knew what was going to happen next! I hope you enjoy this book sometime.

[Gerald Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first read of this author, and while this particular book was for young adult, I still quite enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more.

The author provided unique and believable characters with a number of sub-plot challenges to be overcome and a quite believable ending.

The audio narration was unusually well done.

[Pablo Valle Reyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

miaw

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

#YA #environment powerful story of underdog trying to make a difference and coming up against economic reality and corruption at all levels.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

True portrait of a family and a young man's introduction to adult life. Not a happy ending but some hope.