A Northern Light
				Donnelly, Jennifer. 2003. A NORTHERN LIGHT. New York: Harcourt.
					“‘But why? Why would you want to do that? Go all the way to New York City just to read books?’ ‘So maybe I can learn how to write them someday, Royal. I told you this already,’ I said, suddenly wanting him to understand. Wanting it desperately” (page 190).
		Mattie Gokey loves words. Every day she picks a word out of the precious dictionary her family owns and tries to use it during the day. The enjoyment she finds in her word helps balance the despair she feels about life. After the recent death of her mother, Mattie finds herself running the household and trying to take care of her siblings. She convinces her father to let her work at a hotel in order to provide extra money for the family and finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery.       A NORTHERN LIGHT is almost like reading two stories in one that tie together in the end. Set in 1906, the story being told in the present revolves around a death that has occurred at the hotel where Mattie works. While everyone thinks it was simply an accidental drowning, Mattie believes it was murder and has the letters of the deceased woman to prove her case. Written in first person, this part of the novel is written in present tense. Mixed within this story, Mattie provides flashbacks that are written in past tense to explain how things were at home and how she ended up at the hotel.      In addition to the past tense, readers can identify flashbacks because the sections always begin with a dictionary word. Jumping from past to present does not interrupt the flow of the story; readers will easily follow the thoughts and actions that are occurring. Mattie’s character is ultimately faced with a decision…whether to pursue her love of words and attend college on a scholarship she has received or to pursue the boy she has fallen in love with and live a simple, but contented, life. “I feel like that now. Like there is nothing solid beneath my feet, like the ice is breaking all around me” (page 140). Readers will find themselves as torn between the two choices as Mattie is, even though, deep down know the choice she will make.      The strength of Mattie’s character is evident in the hard work and dedication she puts forth in all that she does, from taking care of her family to solving a murder mystery. Her thoughts and feelings provide a depth that causes readers to feel as if they know Mattie and love her. The secondary characters in the story, of which there are quite a few, are all well developed for the roles in which the carry out. “Donnelly adds a crowd of intriguing, well-drawn secondary characters whose stories help Mattie define her own desires and sense of self” (Booklist review).      While A NORTHERN LIGHT is fiction, an Author’s Note explains the true story that the book is based on; Donnelly explains what really happened in the murder and how it differed from the story told in the book. Also included are Further Reading Suggestions about the murder, the farming industry, general history, and the setting of A NORTHERN LIGHT.      “Many teens will connect with Mattie’s deep yearning for independence and for stories, like her own, that are frank, messy, complicated, and inspiring” (Booklist review). Engberg, Gillian. Booklist. Available at http://www.amazon.com                                             YA Literature Home Page