Shouting at the Stars

by David Belbin

Layla is a young singer who is just hitting the big time. With all of the excitement of her growing fame comes the eerie presence of an unknown heckler who begins to follow all her performances. Who is he, and why is he doing it? And, more importantly, how can she make it stop? This new series features popular stories from the "Shades" series that have been reduced in length and complexity to provide a gripping, achievable read for less able or reluctant readers.

Genres: Young Adult

64 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Belbin's work is known for breaking boundaries and dealing responsibly with difficult social issues that affect teenagers. He first attained success with a number of books for Scholastic's Point Crime series.

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is part of a collection designed for readers, who may be dyslexic or feel that reading longer titles is too daunting for them. This I read in less than fifteen minutes, following young singer Layla who is now very famous and performing to sold-out shows. She should be feeling happy, instead, she is having to battle with someone in the crowd who keeps yelling out statements and telling her to stop singing. They then start to follow Layla to every gig she does. It was a very quick read, but didn’t fully fulfill my reading needs. I’m happy that story collections like this exist. However, I just couldn’t connect with the story or characters well.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fairly pointless story.

* Layla is a singer who is also in a wheelchair.
* She plays small venues with just her guitar, but a heckler keeps annoying her during her sets.
* Her manager Ben gets her a bodyguard Mike.
* Mike and Layla start a relationship.
* Layla starts playing bigger and bigger venues, but the heckler still irritates her.
* One day Mike manages to catch the heckler and tells Layla that he won't be shouting out anymore. Layla thinks that this means Mike killed him.
* Layla tells Ben to sack Mike because she can't date a murderer.
* Layla is playing her biggest show ever at the Albert Hall when the heckler starts again.
* Her manager then comes on the stage and tells the audience to leave because Layla has been under a lot of stress.
* Ben then tells Layla that nobody was shouting at her, and she sees the heckler with his jaw wired shut.
- This was okay, but ultimately felt a bit pointless. The story didn't make me feel anything other than bored, and it seemed like the moral of the story was to hide someone with mental illness away 🙄