<h3>A Northern Light</h3>

Donnelly, J. (2003). A Northern Light. Orlando, FL: Harcourt. ISBN: 0152167056.

Plot Summary: Sixteen-year old Mattie Gokey is the oldest daughter of a widowed farmer in upstate New York during the early 1900s, and with that title comes enormous responsibilities on the farm. The problem is that she does not want to be a farm girl all her life. She is a talented writer and her teacher's involvement has led to her being accepted with a scholarship to Barnard College. She faces the biggest decision of her life: does she stay home and honor a promise made to her deceased mother? Or does she leave in order to to follow her own dream?

In the meantime, Mattie gets a summer job at a resort lodge. She meets Grace Brown, who hands her a bundle of letters with instructions to burn them. Later, before Mattie can carry out the task, Grace turns up dead in the lake. Mattie, unable to quell her curiosity, begins reading the letters. As she pieces together Grace's life and realizes why she ended up dead, Mattie is also able to come to terms with her own place in life and her decision to leave the farm to become her own person.

Critical Evaluation: This book is a fictional account based on a real event. It’s a well-crafted, suspenseful book that uses flashbacks to reveal clues about the murder case. It’s interesting how Mattie has a pessimistic outlook on life and calls Jane Austen a liar with her relentlessly happy endings. And it’s true that no one in this book necessarily has happy ending, yet her strong viewpoint (which readers may or may not always agree with) makes her a realistic and memorable character. She is intelligent and hardworking, yet confused about her future. She wants an education, but isn't sure if it is worth the cost of leaving her home, her family and her boyfriend behind. At first glance that might not seem to be the most original of plots, but Mattie is an amazingly intense character that makes this unique story resonate with teenage girls.

Reader’s Annotation:
Mattie is deciding if she should stay with her family and help with the farm or have her own adventures as a student at Barnard College. When the body of her friend washes up at the summer resort she works at, her uncovering of the mystery leads her to the answer as well as to her own future.

Information About the Author:
Jennifer Donnelly is an author of historical children’s and young adult books. She was born in 1963 in New York and attended the University of Rochester, majoring in English Literature and European History. A Northern Light is her second published novel and is based around the infamous murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the Adirondacks in 1906. In 2004, A Northern Light won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, as well as the Carnegie Medal in the UK. Donnelly currently lives in both New York, with her husband, daughter, and one rescued greyhound.

Genre:
Teen Issues: Crime and criminals
Contemporary Life: Coming of Age
Mystery: Suspense
Historical Fiction: Twentieth Century (1900-1920)

Curriculum Ties: English class, History class, Book clubs

Booktalking Ideas:
• The impact of Mattie’s promise to her mother
• Mattie’s talent for writing and how this affects the novel
• Why Grace Brown wanted the letters destroyed
• Making big decisions and the inevitable involved
• Mattie’s decision to leave and pursue her own life

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 16-21

Challenge Issues/Defenses:

Potential Challenges:
• Negative Depictions About Motherhood
• Portrayals of Death and Sickness
• Depictions of Racism
• Sexual Content

Defense Strategy:
• Provide our Collection Development Policy (which includes Young Adult scope): http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/library/collection.asp

• Refer to awards won by this book from reputable organizations:
http://www.harcourtbooks.com/bookcatalogs/bookpages/9780152167059.asp

• Provide book reviews by literary journals and media publications:
http://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/jd_reviews.htm

• Provide book reviews by actual readers on a publicly accessible website:
http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Light-Jennifer-Donnelly/dp/0152167056


Why This Book Was Included: I read a review of this book and think it’s a good example of historical fiction that would still appeal to today’s teens, particularly female readers. It’s beautifully written, filled with realistic characters and based on true life events.