Book Report On A Northern Light By Jennifer Donnelly
571 Words3 Pages
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly, is an american historical novel that takes place in upstate New York. The protagonist, Mathilda (Mattie) Gokey, is a teenage girl who faces many challenging situations throughout the story. Not only has she lost her mom, but also her older brother, Lawton, who left after a heated situation with their father. Mattie is now responsible to do the jobs that her older brother and mother did which includes: cooking every meal for the family with what little they have, cleaning the house with help from her three younger sisters, and taking care of all of the animals that they own. Gender plays a large role in the book, especially with Mattie and Mrs. Wilcox. The choices that both individuals make is because of their gender and how they empathize with one another.…show more content… In the beginning of the book, the readers learn about Grace Brown, a girl who has drowned in the local river. Prior to her death, she gave Mattie letters that had been written between Grace and the love of her life and made Mattie promised to burn them. After several nights of keeping the letters a secret, Mattie decides to open one, but she does not stop there. She starts to read them one at a time, and eventually reads them all. Since Mattie is a young woman, she sympathizes with Grace and understands what she is going through. If Mattie were the opposite gender, she would not have read them because she probably wouldn't have cared and therefore, she would not have found out that Grace was pregnant and that her fiance didn't come back for her. It is key that main character of the story was made a girl because she makes the story a whole lot better by opening the letters from