Review of Catch a Falling Star

[Gerry Steen]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Catch a Falling Star" by Keith Julius.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Catch a Falling Star, by Keith Julius, is a story about a young woman named Aleisha. Aleisha is a mother of three children. She is rendered incapable of raising her children properly due to an addiction to heroin. A major event happens that requires Aleisha to spend a mandatory period of time in a drug rehab center. Aleisha will not be allowed to leave the rehab center until she proves that she is able to control her addiction. In the meantime, her children are separated from each other. Two of the children are placed into foster care and the baby boy is placed with his paternal aunt.

The well-being of the children is monitored by a volunteer advocate, Beverly, from the CASA program. This program exists in all 50 states in the USA. The author of this book used to work in children's services. During his ten-year career, he became familiar with the CASA program and the work that they do to protect children's interests and well-being. The author skillfully created strong characters with various roles to represent the work that real-life volunteer advocates, case workers, judges, foster parents, psychiatrists, family members, and spouses do to support drug-addicted mothers and their children in times of crisis.

It is through these well-defined characters, that the reader will come to understand the multi-faceted process of rehabilitating a drug-addicted mother while ensuring that her children receive adequate care in her absence. The reader is made privy to the thoughts of Aleisha and Beverly. The thoughts of Aleisha's husband, Mark, her two older children, Willard and Nataya, and her friend, Janelle, from the rehab center are also shared. We learn about the thoughts of the other main characters through the dialogue that they have with Aleisha and Beverly. Aleisha's innocent children and her friend from the rehab center trust Aleisha the most. Aleisha's husband, sister, and sister-in-law, are somewhat wary of Aleisha's trustworthiness and ability to overcome her heroin addiction. Beverly maintains a hopeful attitude toward Aleisha's recovery efforts and her eventual reunification with her children and husband. The odds are not in Aleisha's favor. The desire to escape from life's pressures is always in the back of her mind. Will Aleisha's love for her children and her wish to be reunited with them, be enough to overcome the prejudices people have about her, her lack of work skills, and the temptation to escape from pressures by getting high on heroin?

The author was successful in painting a vivid picture of what an addiction to heroin is like. The collateral damage suffered by the children of the addicted parent was highlighted also. The various roles of a drug rehab center, a court, a foster home, and a children's volunteer special advocate were presented throughout the book. The disparity between low-income and middle-class income neighborhoods was also scrutinized.

This story educated me about drug addiction and its treatment. I also learned about the support given to the children of the addict during the recovery period.

This book was well-written and edited. The author's writing style emphasized the different accents in the speech of the characters that matched the socioeconomic classes they belonged to. There was a fair amount of profanity throughout the book. This was also realistic. The events in the book flowed smoothly. They showed the stages of Aleisha's recovery and the process of assuring appropriate care for her children. I did not find anything to dislike about this novel. I give Catch a Falling Star a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

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Catch a Falling Star
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[Gerry Steen]

Hello, to anyone who reads this review. Please take a minute to post a reply. It will be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Kshitija Sonawane]

Addiction can and do ruin lives. I can understand how this would affect the author in a negative way, allowing her to not carry out her duties towards her family members and her near and dear ones. I am happy how she could recover from it and we need many more such stories coming forward so that more and more rehabilitation happens.

[Cara Wilding]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Catch a Falling Star" by Keith Julius.]

Catch a Falling Star, by Keith Julius, is a story about a young woman named Aleisha. Aleisha is a mother of three children. She is rendered incapable of raising her children properly due to an addiction to heroin. A major event happens that requires Aleisha to spend a mandatory period of time in a drug rehab center. Aleisha will not be allowed to leave the rehab center until she proves that she is able to control her addiction. In the meantime, her children are separated from each other. Two of the children are placed into foster care and the baby boy is placed with his paternal aunt.

The author was successful in painting a vivid picture of what an addiction to heroin is like. The collateral damage suffered by the children of the addicted parent was highlighted also. The various roles of a drug rehab center, a court, a foster home, and a children's volunteer special advocate were presented throughout the book. The disparity between low-income and middle-class income neighborhoods was also scrutinized.

Gerry, I remember this book from Book of the Day, and it felt like such a somber read that I've passed on it several times. I enjoyed how you summarized this book, it made me want to revisit my decision to read it. I think it would be fascinating to jump into the mind of someone addicted to heroin and hear these thoughts and decision making processes. I have a family member who got addicted to heroin in his teens and his whole life has been in shambles ever since. I lost touch with him and several years ago I found out he was still alive, and I was genuinely surprised by this. I've also known folks who have served as foster parents and have seen firsthand the challenges of children separated from their parents and/or siblings. My experiences with both of these topics are quite dated, it would be interesting to see how the system operates today. Well-done on this review! Did you find it difficult to read about these experiences and are any of these issues something you have seen with friends or family? As always, until next time...

[Gerry Steen]

Hi Cara, thank you for your comments. Heroin is a scary drug as are many others. This is especially so when the person needs to escape mental traumas. About 15 years ago, I knew a woman who would stand with me and the rest of the parents watching our daughters play soccer. One day she did not show up. Halfway through the practice, the manager of the team pulled the 17-year-old daughter off the soccer field and left with her. We were all wondering what was going on. We found out later that the police had called the manager looking for the daughter. Her mother had jumped off a bridge and died. She had left a note for her kids apologizing that she had recently started reusing and did not want to put them through that anymore.

[Gerry Steen]

Addiction can and do ruin lives. I can understand how this would affect the author in a negative way, allowing her to not carry out her duties towards her family members and her near and dear ones. I am happy how she could recover from it and we need many more such stories coming forward so that more and more rehabilitation happens.

Hi BhaktiPune, thank you for your comments. The book was an eye-opener. Have a great day.

[Kshitija Sonawane]

Hi BhaktiPune, thank you for your comments. The book was an eye-opener. Have a great day.

I am sure it was. I am just happy I got the chance to read your review so that I could consider reviewing it next if I can.

[NetMassimo]

Aleisha story is sad but leaves the hope that she can overcome a problem as terrible and destructive as the addiction to heroin. The novel makes us understand how such an addiction can hit not only the addicted person but also the people around them. Thank you for your great review!

[The Keeper Jr]

This story intrigued me in knowing about addictions and how we can overcome them. I would love to know and learn from the book. Thanks for the great review.

[Gerry Steen]

Hi BhaktiPune, thank you for your comments. The book was an eye-opener. Have a great day.

I am sure it was. I am just happy I got the chance to read your review so that I could consider reviewing it next if I can.

Hi BhaktiPune, I am sure you will learn from the book. I am also sure you will do a great review. Ciao for now.

[Gerry Steen]

This story intrigued me in knowing about addictions and how we can overcome them. I would love to know and learn from the book. Thanks for the great review.

This book is very informative and real. It is good to know that there are always a lot of good people who offer assistance when people are down and out. Thank you for your comments.

[Risper Ouma Anyango]

Being a drug adduct costs so much of your life and those around you. I avoid drugs at all costs. I loved this book but it's just not my kind. Great review

[Amy Luman]

CASA is a great program that I’ve recently become interested in. I still need to do more research on it, though. Drug addiction interests me also. I used to think that if those who were addicted would just stop everything could be resolved. Now I know it’s not that easy. Thanks!

[A new me]

I was attracted to the name of this novel "Catch a falling star." I wouldn't have guessed it had anything to do with drug addiction; in fact, it is almost rare to find a book that discusses the effects of drug misuse. Thank you for this educative piece of work.

[Bettny Andrade]

It is impressive how addictions destroy people, and their loved ones. When children are involved in these situations, they usually suffer irreparable trauma to different degrees.