READING TIME Vol 57 No. 1 February 2013
This is James Laidler’s second book for young adults, his first being the charming yet tough novel, The Taste of Apple. This new novel moves further into the teenage years, to those years nearing twenty, when life is becoming more complex, more romantic, and more challenging. 

I read James Laidler's free verse novel The Taste Of Apple in 2011 and loved it so when James asked if I'd be interested in reading his latest novel I jumped at the chance. Set in the Australian seaside town of Warrnambool, Pulling Down The Stars has a standard narrative with smatterings of song lyrics and poems but there's nothing standard about the poignant and powerful lyrical style I first fell in love with in The Taste Of Apple. 

Back in May 2011 I reviewed a book called The Taste of Apple by James Laidler. I loved it and was thrilled when the author contacted me and asked if he could use my review on his website. (for the record, I said yes.) I was even more thrilled when he contacted me again late last year and asked if I would like an arc copy of his new book. Again I said yes and just before Christmas, Pulling Down the Stars landed on my Kindle...

Pulling Down the Stars is very different from the first novel The Taste of Apple which was written in verse.  But in saying that this was just as good, if not better.  Pulling Down the Stars is told from mainly Charlie and Maxine's POV, but we also get's snippets from Bill, a very unstable and scary Serial Killer, which only adds mystery to the overall story...

James Laidler is the author of the verse novel The Taste of Apple which won the IP Picks Best First Book award a couple of years back, and now he’s followed that up with his second novel, Pulling Down the Stars. The focus is on prose this time, although there are snippets of poems and even the occasional song. It’s a heartwarming read and one that I’d recommend to anyone, but particularly older teenage readers...