“The Light Jar” by Lisa Thompson is a middle-grade novel about a boy named Nate and his mother who are running away from domestic violence. They head to a small abandoned home that they visited long ago. The house hasn’t been used for years and is very run down. There is even a chicken living inside! Nate’s mother goes out for a quick grocery trip and doesn’t return. Nate is worried and unsure what to do. He isn’t alone for long, though: his old imaginary friend appears and he meets Kitty, a girl who lives in a large house nearby. He doesn’t trust Kitty at first, so he hides the fact that his mother is gone. Kitty asks for his help with an old scavenger hunt clue and part of the story involves Nate and Kitty figuring out what the clues mean.

This book does a very good job describing an abusive household. Gary starts out as a nice guy, but slowly starts to get worse as the relationship goes on. Once he starts living with them, he cuts them off from everyone. Nate and his mom cannot even use lights when Gary isn’t home. Nate has deep fears of the dark and has a jar of lights that he uses as a nightlight, but Gary says that the light bothers him and takes it away and smashes it. Aimed at grades 4 to 6, the plot is a bit bizarre and leaves questions, but the domestic violence situation is described very well.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook.