A Northern Light by Jennifer DonnellyBook 21 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge
Book 5 of 12 for the 2009 YA Challenge
Awards: Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Printz Honor Book; BCCB Blue Ribbon Book; Carnegie Medal/Honors; SLJ Best Book; Publishers Weekly Best Book; Booklist Editors' Choice; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; YALSA Top Ten; Parent's Guide Book Award/ Honor Book; ABA Teen Top Ten Book Sense 76; ALA Notable/Best Books; Jefferson Cup Award/Honor
rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I think the premise of this novel is really interesting. Jennifer Donnelly takes a real-life event (the death of a young girl in an upstate NY resort town in 1908) and molds her story around that event. Mattie Gokey is the daughter of a farmer who shows great academic promise but lacks the financial means to get to Barnard where she has been accepted. She decides to take a summer job at the Glenmore hotel where she unravels the truth behind the death.
Some things about this book I really loved, but there were other things I really didn't care for. Some of the characters were a little too cliched, there were some editing errors, it was predictable, and the chapters told the story in a weird back and forth sequencing that I found confusing. But, I really became attached to Mattie and was rooting for her the whole way.
As far as the book goes, I really wanted to love it, but in the end, I just liked it.
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10 comments:
I've had similar experiences recently myself :( Glad you did like it though!
Hmm, I've been curious about this book, but maybe it's not one I'll rush out to read.
It does sound like an interesting premise. Sorry it wasn't that great for you.
The cover of this book is very eye-catching.
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This book has been on my shelf for several years. Thank you for posting about it; nice review.
Thanks for the link, Tricia. :)
Read this last year and enjoyed it (no link though, since it was crammed into a blog post full of other reviews). Glad you enjoyed it (for the most part!) too.
Thanks for the review. I have actually checked this out from the library a few times but never got around to reading it before it had to be returned.
Pity you didn't find it as good as you thought it might be.
I was completely enthralled by it from beginning to end!
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