num_pages: 396
description: Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder.Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Jennifer Donnelly's astonishing debut novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.Includes a reader's guide and an interview with the author.
language: English
title: A Northern Light
titlecomplete: A Northern Light
characters: Mattie Gokey, Tommy Hubbard, Weaver Smith, Royal Loomis, Beth Gokey, Michael Gokey, Grace Brown, Abby Gokey, Emily Wilcox, Lou Gokey
genres: Audiobook, Coming Of Age, Historical, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Young Adult Historical Fiction, Teen, Mystery, Romance, Fiction
ratings_count: 43662
places: Adirondack Mountains, New York, New York (State)
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Borders Original Voices Award
category: YA or Independent Reader, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Young Adult Literature, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Michael L. Printz Award, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Charlotte Award, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Rhode Island Teen Book Award, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Lincoln Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Carnegie Medal, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Gateway Readers Award
publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers