His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (Book 1)

The first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Lyra Belacqua lives half-wild and carefree among the scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. But her world is changed forever when she discovers a dangerous secret that involves her uncle Lord Asriel and the mysterious substance called Dust. Lyra is given a golden compass—the alethiometer—which can tell her the truth, and she must journey to the far north to rescue her friend and uncover a plot that threatens the very fabric of the universe.