As a change of pace, I picked up A Northern Light primarily due to its Printz Medal Honor status. I normally don’t give much weight to book awards, but the Printz award has been dead-on with some of its best picks. A Northern Light is set in the Adirondacks in 1906. Mattie is 16 years old and nearing the end of her schooling and is torn between two choices which will determine her life’s path. Does she keep her mother’s dying request and remain on the family farm to help raise her younger sisters? or does she follow her heart’s desire to head north to college and pursue her dream to be a writer? The decision is complicated by a new romance with many questions of its own. Mattie’s personal story is told through flashbacks after becoming involved in a mystery surrounding the death of a young woman who was a guest at the resort where she works. As she tries to make sense of the truth behind the young woman’s death, Mattie must make sense of the truths surrounding her own life. The story is very well told and you truly get a sense of the challenges, struggles, and hard work involved in those who survived off their land. Mattie’s choices also bring to life two very different realities for women during the time. Through Mattie’s eyes we see first hand exactly how hard it was to be a woman: marriages often for convenience sake, difficult childbirths, and the hard work of raising a family while toiling on the farm. But Mattie has another option -to become an independent, educated woman, a role that is not widely viewed as favorable. A great read for those who enjoy historical fiction and also for any teen facing the choices that come with the end of high school and the options that lie beyond. Find it in the fiction section under FIC Don.

Reviewed by: Mrs. Walker