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Monday, November 8, 2010

Book Review-A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

I finished this book a few weeks ago so I'll do my best to share what I remember.  I was very surprised to find this book on the Lincoln list for high schoolers after I picked it up from the library.  This book was definitely not what I thought it was going to be.   From the cover and description, I thought for sure that it was going to be a murder mystery.  However, it really is a historical fiction novel with some great characters by Jennifer Donnelly.  Matt is a teenager growing up in the northern part of New York state in the early 1900s.  She lives on a small farm situated in a lake area where guests come from the city to vacation.  Matt's mother has recently died and she has taken on the role of caring for her younger sisters and father, giving up her dreams to go to college and someday become an author. Matt is torn between the promise she made to her mother to care for her family and following her dreams, a situation that I think teen readers may appreciate.  Of course another factor is her budding romance with the boy next door which leaves Matt with the question, where do I go from here?  The story jumps back and forth from Matt's summer working at a hotel and time spent in school and with her family.  I think this would be a great read for middle school girls or even a book discussion group.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3567142-leane%22%3EView all my reviews

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