{"product_id":"the-weight-of-borrowed-light-a-novel-the-cornerstone-story-collection-high-school-cornerstone-academics","title":"The Weight of Borrowed Light","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Cornerstone Story Collection — High School\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA standalone novel for older readers (grades 11–12).\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003e“Not accusation. Recognition. The necessity of seeing a thing as it was before anything else could follow.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a Depression-era mountain hollow, a preacher's son named Eli hides a wounded stranger in the family barn — a quiet bookkeeper with a leg that won't heal and a ledger he guards closely. What that ledger holds is a truth the whole valley has kept its peace by not knowing: a survey, years back, that moved a boundary line and quietly ruined one family to enrich another. As the secret presses toward the light, Eli must weigh the cost of silence against the cost of telling — and learn that some debts are inherited, and some can only be paid by those who never incurred them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA novel about buried wrongs, the slow courage of the truth, and what it costs a community to finally see. Set in Depression-era Appalachia, it is literature for the mature high-school reader — substantial, morally serious, and written to be discussed. Character formation without a trace of preaching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChoose your format:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback (6 x 9 in, printed and shipped) or EPUB ebook (instant digital download).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornerstone Academics","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50584124391653,"sku":"9798951391513","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"EPUB (ebook)","offer_id":50584124424421,"sku":null,"price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0787\/3845\/6805\/files\/ChatGPTImageJul22_2026_04_29_52PM.png?v=1784766602","url":"https:\/\/cornerstoneacademics.co\/products\/the-weight-of-borrowed-light-a-novel-the-cornerstone-story-collection-high-school-cornerstone-academics","provider":"Cornerstone Academics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}