text: The novel, A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly, is a very realistic portrayal of the life of a teenage farm girl, bound for a great future.  Jennifer Donnelly relates to Mattie Gokey, the lead character, in a way that they bother grew up in rural side of New York.  Donnelly attended the University of Rochester before she wrote her three novels and one children's book. Her novels include, The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, A Northern Light, and a children's book, Humble Pie. All of her novels include a very popular romantic theme and her book, A Northern Light, has also been introduced in Europe under the title A Gathering Light.
  	A Northern Light reflects a lot on the issues of wealth, education, love, and murder.  The combination of those themes makes for a novel that anyone is able to read and relate to.  As you read this book, you feel like the main message is the traditional clich? of following your dreams no matter how hard they are to achieve. But as you read further, you realize that it's a lot about hardships, strength and love.  On the first page of the book, Mattie is imagining a perfect day at the Glenmore hotel before she so disappointingly tells herself, "I believe these things. With all my heart.  For I am good at telling myself lies".  From this quote, you can see the type of person Mattie is, and it gives a foreshadowing to the events that would take place throughout the novel.  The events typically consist of let down after let down for Mattie and her hopes for her future.   
  	This book is written from Mattie's point of view which really helps the reader to get to know her better.  It adds a different element to the book that wouldn't be there if it wasn't written from Mattie's point of view.  It lets you get inside Mattie's head and feel the emotions that she's dealing with along with her true thoughts and feeling towards situations.  Mattie is truly troubled girl who works so hard toward what she wants and yet there is always something holding her back. She's stuck in a farming town where education isn't as important as having a prosperous farm and a family. As you read this book, you just want to tell Mattie that she needs to take her own future into consideration and stop worrying long enough to have some faith.  She is a selfless giver who is willing to do anything and everything to keep her family and her farm doing well.  She deals with extreme guilt for wanting to leave her father after her mother died.  She has to learn that the promise that she made to her mother to always take care of her family includes taking care of herself as well.  Royal Loomis enters Mattie's life at a very unconventional time when Mattie's unsure of what she wants to become and she has to chose between his love and the life she's always wanted.  Mattie deals with her teacher, Miss Wilcox, leaving town.  Miss Wilcox was Mattie's role model who was living the life of an independent poet with a car and a royal lifestyle.  The life Mattie wants.    
  	This book is intended for a female audience because it deals with issues that sometime only a girl could understand.  It's a fairly easy read so it is more for adolescents than adults but not for young children.  The issues that it deals with are issues that children may not be able to appreciate as much as teenagers who are about to go to college and leave their families.  A Northern Light is full of valuable lessons, but most of all it's just a good book to get lost in.
  
  
  		
  
  