Where the Light Shines In
“…if there’s one thing my thirteen years of life have taught me, it’s that having parents who love you doesn’t erase the somebody else who brought you into the world.”
Despite being adopted into a loving family, thirteen-year-old Gloria feels as if her life is a bit too much like the crossword puzzles she and her dad enjoy solving together: too many empty spaces and not enough clues.
For as long as she can remember, Gloria has studied the faces of random women in the hopes of finding her birth mother. But when she finally lands on the perfect candidate, it’s in a place she never could have expected—an obituary photo.
Determined to learn more about this dead woman who looks just like her, Gloria embarks on a secret mission to fill in the gaps of her origin story.
At first, finding answers about her past feels exactly right. But as the lies Gloria tells keep piling up, and each step toward her biological family takes her farther from the parents who have loved her forever, she starts to wonder if she’ll ever be able to fill her empty spaces. Because how can you feel truly whole when you’re shattering from the inside out?
Additional information
| Classification | Fiction |
|---|---|
| Genre | Contemporary |
| Age | Middle Grade |
| Publisher | Independent |
| Imprint | Jolly Fish Press |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format(s) | Trade paperback |
| Author | Jenny Mattern |
| Release Date | 15-Sep-26 |
| Release Month | September Releases |
About the Author
Jenny Mattern is a a crafter of stories, a fledgling poet, and a cake-for-breakfast enthusiast. She carried her love affair with middle grade literature long past her days of reading the Baby-Sitters Club and every horse-themed novel she could get her hands on. (Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley are to blame for making me late for dinner on more than one occasion.)
As a former elementary school teacher and a mother to five, Jenny has been sharing the joy of beautiful books with children for nearly thirty years.
Her debut upper middle grade novel, Where the Light Shines In, is due to release on September 15, 2026 through Jolly Fish Press. It began years ago as a love letter to her adopted daughter who joined the family as a foster child at three weeks old. Though it took on a life of its own, this story is Jenny’s way of letting that little girl know it’s okay to ask questions, to wonder, and to always keep searching.
