loved it. This book drew me in front the first sentence and I could not put it down. It was a very well done retelling of the Little Match Girl. I commend the author on her inclusion of a diabetic character and taking the time to explain how pumps and sugars work. As a diabetic this was refreshing to see and I am quite happy with how it was depicted. The story had an excellent flow to it, even as it switched points of views, it was done very well with covering all the needed details.

Drawn Away by author Canadian Holly Bennett is a YA urban fantasy story that plays upon the Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Match Girl story. In modern day Ontario, Jack slips into walking nightmares where he meets the little match girl. He realizes he is talking to her ghost but doesn’t know how to stop these visitations. Klara, the match girl, is trapped between the living and the dead. Alone and lonely, she wants to keep Jack with her forever and tries to bind him to her with a small matchstick doll. Jack’s girlfriend, Lucy has also been able to see visions of the match girl so together Jack and Lucy try to discover how to break the spell and release the hold this ghost has over the living boy.

This story takes a dark subject matter and blends it with the themes of loneliness, and trying to fit in to create an interesting story. Having Jack being a type one diabetic and showing the control that he needs to have in his day-to-day life, added to the strength and believably of the character. Lucy also had to deal with some important issues such as the death of her father and learning to build upon her relationship with her mother. Klara, was rather sympathetic as the ghost who no longer wanted to be alone.

Drawn Away gives us a unique twist to the classic and rather creepy Hans Christian Andersen in a quick and easy read that manages to deal with some important issues. I think this book would appeal to most young readers of twelve to fourteen years. ( )

One minute Jack's in math class. The next, he's on a dark, cobblestoned, empty street. Empty, that is, except for a skinny girl wrapped in a threadbare shawl. "Matches, mister?" she asks, and just like that, Jack's life collides with one of Hans Christian Andersen's grimmest tales. And just when he has almost convinced himself it was just a weird dream, it happens again. Suddenly, Jack's ideas about what is "real" or "possible" no longer apply. While he and his new girlfriend, Lucy, struggle to understand who or what the Match Girl is, they come to realize they must also find a way to keep Jack away from her. The Match Girl is not just a sad, lonely soul; she's dangerous. And each time Jack is drawn into her gray, solitary world, she becomes stronger, more alive...and more attached to Jack. She wants to keep Jack for her very own, even if that means he will die. ( )

The beginning third of this book was really interesting and I enjoyed it. The last 2 thirds were less so. I realize that most YA writers feel the need to have love stories in every book. Not really sure why, but some times they add to the plot and are not distracting. This time it did add to the plot to an extent, but I felt that it was distracting and the need for it plot wise could have been handled a different way. It was a well written story with an interesting concept, but I felt it fell apart a bit in the end. ( )

DRAWN AWAY by Holly Bennett is something of an urban ghost story novel, something of a literary mashup. It draws on Hans Christian Andersen’s heart-rending tale of the Little Match Girl to tell a contemporary story about mothers’ love, romantic obsession, and cooperative problem solving.

Jack is an ordinary guy living a fairly ordinary life when he is pulled into a shadowy, misty space where he meets a thin, intense girl. Then zap, he’s back in the real world and flirting with Lucy, his soon-to-be girlfriend. When Lucy and Jack discover they’ve both encountered the thin girl, Klara (who turns out to be the ghost of the real-life inspiration for the Little Match Girl), they must work together to keep Klara from luring Jack back to the shadow world forever.

I liked this novel; it has a brisk-moving plot and raises issues of both historical and contemporary significance. The Klara subplot invites readers to consider domestic violence, the consequences of poverty, and the plight of women in a morally punitive society. The plot thread of Jack’s diabetes turns his insulin pump into a character and normalizes the process of managing the disease. The figure of Hans Christian Andersen introduces themes of authorship and responsibility, and also allows the novel to represent a very difficult, and frankly harsh era, in an intriguing manner. That said, the Andersen subplot is something of a tangent; it is resolved a bit too tidily through Lucy and her mother. I also found the relationship between Jack and Lucy unusually pitched. Although they are seventeen and eighteen years old, and do engage in some behaviours of older teens (such as drinking alcohol and smoking pot), their romantic relationship is very restrained. But perhaps this decision reflects more about the sensibilities of classrooms and public librarians than it does about modern teens.

In short, DRAWN AWAY is an energetic, accessible novel for grades eight and up. It’s likely to appeal to readers interested in the recent revival of fairy tales through popular texts like INTO THE WOODS, ONCE UPON A TIME, and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (as well as the junior retellings of the WHATEVER AFTER series). DRAWN AWAY could also provide a stepping-stone to more sophisticated retellings like BEAUTY by Sheri S. Tepper and THE SNOW QUEEN by Joan D. Vinge. ( )