Northern Lights is the Story of Shane, a boy who had recently lost his father, thrown out by his uncle, and searching for his long-gone mother. He arrives in Holm, Minnesota the last place he received a letter from his mother. She is gone, and no one has much to say about her. He meets new friends resigned to live in Holm. Holm has been dying for a while. Walmart moved to the fringes of town and destroyed downtown. It seems the only people with money are the drug dealers. Shane himself is androgynous looking fluid in his sexuality; what there is of it. The story is a dark and depressing look at northern cities, once manufacturing centers, now crumbling and abandoned. The novel covers most young adult issues from pregnancy, drugs, bullying, sexuality, and the promise of a bleak future. The book will be more of interest to younger and millennial readers as it captures their era and issues.

An intense and disturbing book, It's the very personal story of a boy who decided to seek out his mother, who left many years ago; his father has recently died, and he's visiting Holm, Minnesota, trying to find out where his mom ended up.

With complex characters, most of them with the interconnections that are inevitable in a small town, Sex, drugs, beatings, and even murder are among the things he finds along the way. It's graphic but not in an offensive or licentious way, more like a factual report of what happened.

"Northern Lights" grips you and won't let you go, but it's not easy to read. I think my primary emotion when I finished was relief - I wasn't wishing it went on longer, or that there'd be a sequel. Yet I'm glad I read it and I do recommend it if you're up for a challenge.