{"product_id":"northern-lights-empty-pockets-9798995125549","title":"Northern Lights, Empty Pockets","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e On Minnesota's Iron Range, one mother must choose between keeping her hard-won safety and standing with a town ready\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e to fight back.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In 1998, Sarah Mitchell is four months into a new life in Virginia, Minnesota. She escaped an abusive marriage with\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e her nine-year-old daughter, Emma, but freedom still feels precarious. Sarah cleans the regional hospital on the night\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e shift, stretches every dollar, and lives in Section 8 housing while mine closures have left the town fighting for its\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Sarah plans to work, raise Emma, and stay unnoticed. Instead, she is drawn into the fierce web of care holding the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Range together: church-basement meals, union-hall conversations, shared childcare, borrowed tools, and neighbors who\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e give even when they have almost nothing. With the support of a growing circle of friends, she begins to find her\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e voice-first at work, then in the fight for safe housing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e But speaking up carries risks. The people with power are counting on fear, exhaustion, and poverty to keep everyone\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e isolated. To protect Emma and the fragile life they are building, Sarah must decide whether safety lies in remaining\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e invisible or in standing beside people who have begun to feel like family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Set across the changing seasons of northern Minnesota, Northern Lights, Empty Pockets is hopeful literary fiction\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e about single motherhood, working-class resilience, found family, and grassroots organizing. It is a deeply human\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e story of ordinary people who discover that wealth is not the only kind of power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Sandcherry Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/29\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798995125549\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 404\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.16lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 1.06d","brand":"Alex C. Jokela","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53273382879413,"sku":"9798995125549","price":25.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/9798995125549.jpg?v=1789485403","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/northern-lights-empty-pockets-9798995125549","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}