The Light Jar

Product Information

It’s always a mixture of feelings when an author whom you love their previous work brings out a new book - there’s excitement, anticipation and apprehension as to whether it’ll stand up to their other books and I can honestly say that Lisa Thompson’s done it! Fans of ‘The Goldfish Boy’ won’t be disappointed and new readers are in for a wonderful encounter with one of the best children’s authors around. When I was five we had a street party and I came 2 ndin a fancy-dress competition and won a kite. I was dressed as the Queen. The Freaky book thing. I just didn't care about those, if anything they also interrupted at times when it was just getting good. As time goes on he is reunited with happy and wise Sam - his long lost imaginary friend and Kitty - a determined, funny, treasure hunting girl from the woods who’s on a mission to uncover her families past. Together mysteries are solved, lessons are learnt and friendships are forged (with plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep you on your toes!)

I wrote my first book when I was nine or ten. When I was little I really wanted to have horse riding lessons but my parents couldn’t afford them so I wrote a (very) short book about a girl who started a rescue home for horses. I could then immerse myself in the horsey world I was so keen to join. I even did my own illustrations! I found the book when I was about thirteen and was so embarrassed about it I ripped it up and threw it away. Big mistake! I’d love to see that book now. (Oh and I did get to go on a horse when I was in my 20’s and I was so scared I asked to get off.) The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson is a children’s novel following our protagonist, Nate, and his mother, Fiona. This book has a mysterious atmosphere and has many parts where you’re sitting there wondering — Nate and his mother and running from Gary, nates’ mother’s new boyfriend. Neither him, Nate, or his mother liked Gary after he moved in.Things go from bad to worse when they arrive at the ‘holiday’ destination. The country cottage is dark, derelict and scary. With holes in the roof, it looks like a house of horrors rather than a refuge. Making themselves as comfortable as they can, they curl up for the night and try to sleep. Along the way, we learn more and more about Nates’s past and some crazy things that happened in his life. Like, what happened to his dad, the mean stuff Gary does at home, and what Nate has gone through himself. It’s surprising, and we even learn a lot about the kitty and what she is trying to find. Lisa Thompson’s The Goldfish Boy, about a troubled 12-year-old with OCD investigating the disappearance of a toddler, was one of 2017’s bestselling children’s debuts. Her follow-up, The Light Jar, is another mystery/thriller wrapped around psychological themes. Nate’s dad ran off with a colleague when he was six. Now 11, Nate and his mum are bedding down in an abandoned cottage, on the run from Gary, her emotionally abusive boyfriend. When his mother fails to return from a shopping trip, Nate must fend for himself – and convince Kitty, a girl who lives in the neighbouring stately home, that he has not been abandoned. The story was very touching. It made me think about Nate and children like him, who are put in a scary situation where they feel no one can help them. The author makes you feel like you are Nate in the way she describes the cottage and its surroundings. It is winter, the snow is falling heavily and the cottage is in the middle of nowhere. Nate needs to keep himself alive. It made me wonder what I would do with no parents to help me, to tell me what to do or to give me food and shelter.

The parts were Nate tells us about Gary, about his life before he ended up at the cottage. Those parts were really interesting, they pulled me in, I wanted to know more about his life, about Gary (and how terrible he was/is), about his mum. Everything! These parts were the best out of the entire book. And I wouldn't have minded if the whole book was about them. If you like mystery, adventure or a tiny element of fantasy, this is the book for you. The ending was a surprise. To be honest, there were a lot of surprises! When I was reading it, I really thought that I was the main character. I used to work behind the scenes making radio programmes for the BBC. I love radio and if you are in my company for long enough, I’ll go on and on about how great it is and then you’ll want to put the radio on really loudly to stop me talking. What the Light Jar is (yes, we see what it is on the cover, but we don't know yet how it is so important to Nate).The second read-in-one-sitting mystery from the bestselling author of The Goldfish Boy, one of 2017’s biggest children’s books. De elfjarige Nathan maakt nogal wat mee in zijn jonge leven. Een vader die hij niet meer ziet, oma en vriendjes die hij mist, maar als er psychische mishandeling plaatsvindt en het gevolg eenzaamheid en onbegrip is, is het moeilijk om nog een onbezorgd kind te zijn. Toch is dit ook een verhaal van hoop, sterker worden, loslaten en vriendschap. Will Nate find the bravery needed to face the troubles of his present and ultimately illuminate the future?

At the same time, Nate meets the mysterious Kitty. She lives nearby and is determined to solve a decades old treasure hunt. Together they set about solving the mystery. This intriguing mystery is the perfect counter-balance to Nate’s history. Thompson keeps a rapid pace which keeps the reader guessing and wanting to find out more.De auteur van ‘De Goudvisjongen’ heeft met haar tweede boek ‘De Nachtlantaarn’ weer een bijzonder indringend verhaal geschreven. Thompson schrijft over grote thema’s. The theme of the light jar itself resonates throughout the story. This was such a wonderful image that we decided to create some light jars of our own to decorate the library. The warm glow from our jars was a lovely reminder of the positive message at the heart of this story - one I know will resonate with many of our readers. Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Forward a bit, and his mother goes to the nearest grocery store they saw on their way. This seems fine and dandy at first, I mean, it may be a little scary for Nate, but what could go wrong? A few hours pass and his mother hasn’t come home. After frantically running around the cabin and trying to find some way to survive, he meets an odd girl name kitty who is trying to find a secret treasure.

He was always angry and abusive, and you never knew when he was going to strike. The problem with this is that Fiona never dared to stand up for herself and her son. At this point, they had to leave. Only grabbing his essentials, Nate runs to the car, and they arrive at this weird cabin. The treasure hunt. I am sorry, but Kitty took weeks/months to try and solve 1 effing hint, and Nate just pops in and suddenly everything is hunkydory and he solves the clues within minutes or hours? That just made my eyes roll as it was just too ridiculous. I get that they probably can't take months to solve a clue, as Nate is only here temporarily, but yeah, it still stood out like a sore thumb. When Mum heads off for provisions, and then doesn’t return, Nate is left alone and afraid, with the dark closing in all around him. I found the balance of characters, the ease of being able to relate to them and empathy you felt towards them was brilliant and the dynamics were real to life and accurate. The topics touched on (though difficult & sad at times) is executed with understanding, sympathy and accuracy and has the right balance of emotion and truthful insights of the topics featured (but never over the top) for her main audience of 9-13 year olds to be able to take in and understand which I think is really important.I thought this book was really gripping. I managed to read it in about a day. I loved it! At the beginning, it was really scary and I thought I might not like the book. I think that if you read it and do not like the beginning much, you would need to carry on and read some more.