rgz

readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

January's Pick: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Happy New Year, everyone!


Help us welcome the fabulous Jennifer Donnelly!


In A Northern Light, 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 asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, this astonishing novel weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and wholly original.

A Northern Light has received a ton of honors:

Winner of the Carnegie Medal

Winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize

Winner of New York State's Charlotte Award

A Michael Printz Honor Book

An ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults

Come join us at the forum!

6 comments:

lanna-lovely said...

Is the UK title of this book "A Gathering Light"? Because I have a book called A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly and the cover is different but the summary of the book is the same. :o/

Melissa Walker said...

Yes--that's the UK title--you can see both covers on Jennifer's website!

Little Willow said...

Looking forward to our discussions at the forum!

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