Drawn Away

November 15, 2016
The Little Match Girl finds her way to modern-day Canada in this haunting adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's bleakest fairy tale. After moving from big-city Montreal to rural Ontario, all Jack wants to do is settle into 12th grade, make some friends, and date a cute girl. Instead he begins seeing visions of a starved matches-selling waif in 19th-century Copenhagen amid a lugubrious fog that makes everything else disappear. As Jack and his new girlfriend, Lucy, race to discover the Match Girl's hold over them, it becomes clear that the Match Girl doesn't simply want a visitor. She intends to keep Jack in her world...permanently. In her latest novel, Bennett splits the narration among Jack, the Match Girl (now named Klara), and Lucy, a talented artist whose physical resemblance to Klara is uncanny. The result is an absorbing narrative that tempers its dark subject matter with humor and boasts three white protagonists with distinct personalities, ambitions, and fears. Klara's interior monologue is particularly intriguing, as it gives nuance and agency to a character known for suffering in silence. Discovering the connection among the protagonists is half the fun of this teen mystery, which also uses Klara's obsession to remind readers of the damage selfishness and loneliness can cause. A definite crowd-pleaser for fairy-tale enthusiasts and fantasy lovers. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-Twelfth grader Jack Lavoie is adjusting to life with Type-1 diabetes as well as his recent move from an alternative school in his old hometown of Montreal, Quebec, to his new school in Ontario. Then he meets, befriends, and falls for a fellow new student, Lucy, a loner who is rebuilding her life after the death of her father and a short stint as a runaway teen on the streets of Toronto. Jack and Lucy's budding romance is interrupted by the presence of the mysterious Match Girl. Yes, that Match Girl, from Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale. The Match Girl, whose real name is Klara, appears during Jack's low-insulin episodes and is determined to bring him into her world. Lucy stumbles onto an unexpected familial connection to Klara after the death of her own paternal grandfather, and she realizes that she has the key to unlock Klara's hold on Jack. Bennett grabs readers immediately and successfully bridges Andersen's classic fairy tale and contemporary YA fiction. In addition, she accurately depicts Jack's trials and tribulations as he tries to manage his diabetes, without portraying him as a stereotypical victim. The author also creates a believable, complex relationship between Lucy and her mother. VERDICT Fans of intergenerational books will appreciate Bennett's solid storytelling and her inspired incorporation of Hans Christian Andersen's works. Consider for both school and public library YA collections.-Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library

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