When a night out with friends leads to drinking and a bit of joyriding, fifteen-year-old Tony is seriously injured, and sent to Lismore rehabilitation centre in a coma. A residence for young people with terminal illnesses, or disabilities that require nursing care, Lismore is home to Stephen, also fifteen, who is a talented musician and composer, slowly dying of a wasting disease. Stephen observes Tony, witnessing his surprise awakening, and gradual healing, and the two boys become friends. Together with some of Tony's schoolmates, they enter a Battle of the Bands competition, performing songs composed by Stephen. When Tony recovers enough to leave Lismore, the new friends are parted. Although intending to remain in touch, there is little time left...

I found When Stars Stop Spinning a moving exploration of two young people confronting very difficult challenges. Tony must contend with the frustration of discovering that his body simply will not function as it once did - the passages in which he feels locked inside his body, after he first awakens from his coma, were particularly powerful - and the pain of recalling the accident in which he was injured, and his friend Loxer killed. Stephen faces his declining physical strength, the all-too brief time left to him, to work on his music, and his own impending death. The conclusion of the story, in which Tony returns briefly to Lismore, to see a dying Stephen, is made all the more powerful for being open-ended. We don't actually witness Stephen's death, although it is clear that it is imminent, nor do we get to follow Tony beyond the moment he flees the centre. Although the narrative does not spell out what effect Stephen's friendship and death will have on Tony, it is clear that their impact will be significant... ( )