What Light

What Light by Jay Asher is a young adult contemporary romance that explores themes of first love, forgiveness, and societal judgment. Sierra's unique upbringing, splitting her year between an Oregon Christmas tree farm and a California sales lot, sets the stage for her encounter with Caleb. Caleb carries the weight of a past mistake, leading to a tarnished reputation. The story follows Sierra's determination to see beyond his past and help him find redemption, navigating disapproval and misconceptions. It's a poignant story about empathy, second chances, and the power of true connection, suitable for mature young readers.

Sierra's family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon -- it's a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other. Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other. By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. But Sierra sees beyond Caleb's past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. As disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra discover the one thing that transcends all else: true love.