The first half of The Northern Lights takes place in northern Manitoba. Teen protagonist Noah Krainik has a father who is mostly absent. Noah himself is mostly absent too, spending a good part of each year in a nearby Cree community, while an orphaned cousin named Charlotte keeps his mother company. Noah's best friend, Pelly Bay, has been abandoned by his parents and takes up riding a unicycle. Cree phrases are srpinkled throughout this part of the story. The Cree themselves are friendly but enigmatic.
Noah's mother is fascinated by the Biblical ark, but when she actually sees one on a northern lake, she realizes it is time to head south. She and Charlotte move to Toronto and buy a movie theatre called the Northern Lights.
When Noah arrives, he takes on managerial duties and hires a Cree projectionist named Levon, who moves his family into the projection room. Each night Levon goes out to hunt and trap urban wildlife. He has a very pragmatic take on the ark -- knowing it was going to be a long journey, the Biblical Noah stocked it with lots of eatables.
When The Northern Lights was published in 1987, some very large names appeared on the dust jacket: Louise Erdrich, Ursula Le Guin, Barry Lopez, Peter Matthiessen.
