This story is a tough read. It also seems like the book cannot fully make up its mind whether or not it's an adult or a YA novel. Refining that would have made for a more consistent feel to the narrative as a reader. It's a touch too dark to be fully a YA novel, but it's also lacking the well-rounded depth of an adult novel. There are some important themes being explored here and more robust development of the secondary characters would have helped support that exploration better.

Well paced and developed story about life in the midwest in the late '90s. An adolescent coming of age story about growing up and what life is like in the Midwest. Shane is in search of her mother, meanwhile, she graduates high school and his uncle kicks him out of his house. A coming of age story with heartache and strength. The story is told from Shane's point of view and is gut-wrenching and hard to read at some points. Addresses drug use and sexual orientation so the story won't be for everyone. thank you to Simon and Schuster for my advance copy.

I was invited to read and review this title by Simon and Schuster and Net Galley. It’s the story of Shane, an orphaned teen whose uncle kicks him goodbye [with my apologies to Shrek] directly following high school graduation. Shane sets off for the small town in Minnesota whence came his only letter from his mother, who abandoned the family a long time ago. Since he finds himself suddenly homeless, he figures he doesn’t have much to lose. Maybe she’s still there.

His new home, however, is little more than a wide space in the road, and its residents haven’t received the memo about gender crossed individuals. His long hair and androgynous appearance are the trigger for some nasty behaviors on the part of the locals, and when you’re homeless, this is exponentially scarier because you don’t have a safe place to which you can rush inside and close the door.

On the one hand, the theme here is a timely one, combining the present-day increased problem of homelessness. We see teen kids instantly unhomed by the government once they reach majority age; bullying and hate crimes against those with nontraditional sexual identification and orientation; and then, as the novel proceeds, substance abuse as a means of escape and a signal of dark, dark despair.

The despair. The despair the despairthedespairthedespair. The challenge in reading this is that we begin in a bleak place, we stay in a bleak place for the most part, and then we end in a bleak place. The whole thing is punctuated not only with alienation, of which there is understandably plenty, but also that flat line ennui that accompanies depression, and who in her right mind would read this thing cover to cover? Hopefully it’s someone with rock solid mental health whose moods are not terribly variable. As for me, I read the first half, and then I perused the remainder in a skipping-and-scooting way I reserve for very few galleys. It was that or commence building myself a noose, and self preservation won the day.

If the key issues in this novel are a particular passion of yours, you may feel vindicated when you read it. I recommend reading it free or cheaply if you will read it all, and keep a second, more uplifting novel ready to do duty as a mood elevator when you sense your own frame of mind descending hell’s elevator.

Gritty, real, interesting, and sad. This was a difficult read at times, mostly because it probably reflects reality in a lot of small rust belt towns these days. As someone who grew up in one, that can be hard to handle. Still, this was a good book with excellent writing. I would recommend it if you can handle the darkness throughout this story.

I was given this book by Netgalley for review. A good book, I think more of a young adult novel. I DID enjoy it. It is a quick read. Could have had more developed lesser characters, more backstory.

*4-4.5 stars! Northern Lights is an astoundingly good book for a debut. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Shane's uncle kicks him out right after his high school graduation. His uncle doesn't like Shane's pretty long blonde hair or the impression he has that Shane might be gay. With no other family to turn to, Shane decides to spend his last summer before college on a search for his estranged mother. The last address he has for her is in Holm, MN, but he soon finds she left there two years before, with no known forwarding address.

Shane decides to hang around Holm anyway and makes some friends and one very bad enemy. It is a summer of drug and sexual experimentation. When his best friend goes missing, Shane is sure she's been murdered and sets out to find proof. Which leads to a very exciting conclusion.

The story is told from Shane's first person pov and the reader experiences firsthand his turmoil and angst as he makes decisions. I really liked this character, and even though he makes some bad choices, he seems to be a good person at heart.

This book seems to me to be worthy enough to take its place among other well-known coming of age stories, such as Catcher in the Rye. Yes, there is an awful lot of drug-taking and the story addresses sexual orientation, but these are the issues of our times and I felt they were well handled here.

I received an arc of this debut novel from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

It was just by accident that Shane Stephenson stopped getting haircuts. His straight blond locks haven't even reached his shoulders the first time he's pushed into a wall and called names. Once he graduates high school in 1997, six months after his father's death, his disapproving uncle throws him out of the house.

Heading to college in Minneapolis, Shane stops in the declining town of Holm to see the mother who abandoned him, only to find her gone. With his slim build and androgynous look, Shane finds plenty of foes in Holm, a "boys will be boys" place where folks celebrate their "heritage" with the Confederate flag, Timothy McVeigh is a hero, kids struggle to escape and the drug trade flourishes.

In Northern Lights, debut novelist Raymond Strom paints an aching portrait of a young man searching for a sense of self and belonging. While looking for clues in Holm, Shane finds a circle of friends and adversaries who push his boundaries and compel him to confront who he wants to be. When his closest companion comes up with a plan to take down the bigot tormenting Shane, the tragic fallout further shapes him and his future.

Strom creates a fantastic sense of place and how it works on his characters, particularly with respect to the gritty underbelly of substance abuse and financial straits. Shane is an unforgettable hero in his own story, both lost and possessing a vulnerable inner strength. Through him, Strom demonstrates how connections can be forged even in the unlikeliest of places.

STREET SENSE: Fans of small-town drama (even the maddening kind) and nuanced character work should enjoy this impressive debut with a young protagonist you can't help but love and root for.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE: I could see side-by-side how my long hair had made me look like a girl. It didn't help me understand why it had led some people to the edge of their wits, but I could see the cause for confusion in a way that I hadn't before. I had always been me, as far as I could tell, the change in my hair so subtle from day to day that I had grown into my own vision of myself over the years it took to get that long.

COVER NERD SAYS: I was an immediate sucker for this cover. The spare sepia image and font evoke mystery and gritty character work, which is exactly what I got and more. I admit I'm a minimalist, but this cover is proof you don't have to be fancy to be attention-grabbing.

I felt so sorry for Shane. How would it feel to have your Mother abandon you, your father die, and your uncle kick you out of the house. Talk about a rude awakening to the world. This is a coming-of-age story more brutal than some. The writing is decent for a debut book and the subject matter is serious and compelling.

A very solid well written story with a character that will stick with you long after the last page. Absolutely pick up this winner of a book and prepare to be enthralled. Happy reading!

Northern Lights is a solid debut, but an obvious debut, nonetheless. I was attracted to the coming-of-age in a small midwestern town story, because, well, I'm from a small Midwestern town. While the atmosphere rang true, several plot pints hit a flat note. Clearly, Strom was aiming for a page-turner when I'd rather he lent his characters some introspection.

This coming of age story addresses numerous issues- a dying town, a search for a mother, the search for identity. Shane's father has died and his uncle kicked him out of the house. He arrives in Holm, the last place his mother was known to be, and funds a town of horrors for someone like him. It's 1997 and people there aren't prepared for androgynous male. They are, however, taking a lot of drugs. Shane falls in with a group of troubled teens who don't help him in any way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a well written novel which is at times piercing in its observations.

I loved everything about this book. The characters, the struggle, the complex issues that arise with small town living and not adhering to "social norms." I would have liked the author to delve deeper in some areas and give me more emotions and descriptions but he earns a solid 4 stars from me.

There is something magical and a bit thrilling reading the debut novel of an author as brilliant as Raymond Strom, one you know is going to be a rising voice in today's gritty, contemporary domestic-noir fiction. Northern Lights is a challenging book to read but one that rewards its reader in the end with the satisfaction of knowing characters who are surviving in a world that is meant to cripple or kill them.

The bleakness of that cover underlies the dark ambiance found throughout Northern Lights. Shane is an androgynous youth in search of the mother who abandoned him years before. His father has died and his uncle has thrown him out of their family home. Before he begins university, Shane takes the summer to go to the last known place his mother lived: Holm, Minnesota. The first person he runs into sums up Shane's entire existence with the question, "are you a boy or a girl?" It's a question Shane often asks himself - not necessarily about his physical self but who he is psycho-sexually. As he wanders through town searching for his mother, he discovers those who hate him, accept him, wish to kill him, wish to love him and all parts in between. He cobbles together a group of "misfit" friends who live on the fringe of this small town; who exist in the shades of grey and have you questioning if there are real values of black and white. Although set in the time-frame of the early 90s, the novel has the feel of today's setting with so much division, so much hate and far too much vilifying based on sexual identity and the color of one's skin.

I read Northern Lights in one sitting. The narrative was tight and flowed in a such a manner that once I began, I couldn't bring myself to stop reading until I finished. It was difficult - there is nothing lite or pretty about this book. Small town, rural life in middle America is not what it's cracked up to be, but then I'm not sure life in America anywhere is any more. People are struggling. Our youth, with few exceptions, are struggling and "at risk," and no one seems to be noticing or caring. It is easier to get immersed in reality television than it is to get involved in reality. That is the ultimate take-away from Northern Lights: look at these kids, see them, understand them. Look at the people in this town. They are all of us. While I know that this book will not be for everyone, of course, I do wish it was required reading for high school students everywhere; for those who need to read books with characters who are like themselves and for those who need to read books to understand the bullies that they have become.

I am grateful to #Netgalley, #RaymondStrom, and @SimonSchuster for allowing me to read and review Northern Lights.

We’ve hear a lot lately about the divide between urban/rural, coastal/”flyover country”. What’s happened? Why are “they” so angry?
Well…. if you really want to know, you can cast aside much of the recent (Post 2016) musings, and take a look at what Raymond Strom has to say. “Northern Lights” will help you understand (if you don’t already know) that this isn’t all so terribly new. It started awhile ago with - Walmart gutting our inner cities, mom and pop shops, and downtowns, outsourcing closing our factories and eliminating middle-class jobs, Right-to-Work laws crippling our unions, decimating pensions, making health care unaffordable, etc. It’s a time where everyone was told that they had to go to college, and all they got out of it was enormous life-long debt, temporary contract employment with no security and the “gig-economy”.
“Northern Lights” shows what’s left – broken families, gun violence, meth and opioid addiction, a longing for the “good old days” of White supremacy and cisgender. Strom has a lot to say, but he does it in a pretty sneaky way. It’s Northern Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan, after all, people with Scandinavian roots who understand somewhere within them that they should know better. They’re broken and may be evil, but they have a guilty conscience and regret about it all.
If you already know about all this, “Northern Lights” may make you cry. If you don’t, it may scare you. In any case, it will make you think and (hopefully) understand that it is something that we as a country must immediately acknowledge, confront, and care about.
Thank you Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy.

Northern Lights is a teenage coming of age story about Shane, a recent high school graduate. At a very young age, Shane was abandoned by his mom. His dad raised him, but when his dad passes away, Shane is left to live with his uncle. An uncle who is less than understanding about Shane’s long hair and teenage ways.

I found this book to be pretty powerful about what it’s like to be a teenager in a small town. Shane has long hair which seems to frighten or offend most of the people in the town. He goes looking for his mom in yet another small town, befriends some locals, and gets a job. Shane finds himself involved with a teenage girl who has an affinity for drugs and shoplifting. He’s unsettled about his own sexuality when he meets Russell, a teenage alcoholic who is also unsure about his sexuality.

This book definitely has more adult themes, but I can see why teenagers would relate to it. There are parts of it that are extremely painful, and parts that are joyous. Shane’s quest to find his mom is a relatable one. Who wouldn’t want to find out why she ran off leaving him just a card and a $100 bill?

Strom has written a novel that isn’t an easy read, but for me, a fascinating look at what it’s like to be young in today’s world. Especially in a very small town without many prospects. In many ways it reminds me of Go Ask Alice, which opened eyes in so many ways. I would caution that this is not a book for early teens, but definitely older teens and adults.

Shane is a beaten but hopeful young person searching for his mother while on the way to college who makes the mistake of walking into a human cesspool of nothingness along the way. This is a difficult book to read; Shane is androgynous and the little backward town of Holm isn’t ready for him. As always happens with lonely and lost humans, the only people who befriend him are troubled youth who float thru days and nights drunk or high, stealing to get by, no regard for self or compassion for others. Hounded for his attractive feminine looks that rattle the local bullies, Shane finds comfort and companionship with those who only steal his soul.
If you prefer to remain oblivious to the underbelly of America, its youth, the poverty and the struggles of the homeless, do not read this book. It’s a gut-wrenching expose of a world we can only stand to glimpse.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Simon & Schuster for making it available.)

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest feedback.

This stories follows Shane as he looks for his mother after his uncle has kicked him out of the house when his father dies. While on his journey, he meets up with young adults who are also on the fringe of society wanting to belong and be wanted. The author tries to address the topics of abandonment and wanting to belong with modest success. While the story held my attention enough for me not to reach for a different book, it still was not compelling to totally hold my attention. Coming from the midwest, I felt the stereotypes were too numerous with nothing original. I wish the book was as compelling as the last 50-odd pages.

First, thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book.

Northern Lights follows Shane as he is looking for his mother, who abandoned him as a child. He heads to Holm, Minnesota because that was her last known address. Upon his arrival in the small town he learns she's moved and no one seems to know much about her. Shane stays in Holm and gets involved with a group of young adults who are mixed up with the local drug dealer. His search for his mother takes a back seat to his friendships and drug use. Shane shows up in Holm with long blond hair and is often mistaken for a girl. The very conservative people in Holm call him derogatory names and, while it is set in 1997, with the current culture I felt like this could all happen today.

I gave this book three stars because I felt sometimes the writing was a bit trite. It also dragged a bit while the author described the characters taking drugs and doing nothing. The last 25% of the book had most of the action. There were some characters I would have liked more back story about rather than how they acted when they were on speed. Overall I would still recommend this book as a short read that manages to cover social issues without being preachy.

love this book, characters were well developed. The plot had many twist and turns. Great read., cannot wait for the next book..

Shane is an androgynous young man who comes to Holm in search of not only his errant mother, but also himself. Shane meets Jenny and Roger, other young people also searching for a meaningful life. The author ably evokes Shane's wistful longing for a lost childhood while giving us hope for Shane's future