Drawn Away

by Holly Bennett

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.

Genres: Retellings, Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Horror

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2017

About the author

I was born and grew up in Montreal before moving with my family to Markham, Ontario as part of the “great Anglo exodus,” that strange era when head offices were moving out of Quebec in a panic to avoid having to do anything in French. I finished high school in Ontario and went on to study English and Native Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. I wasn’t done with Quebec though, going back for two summers in Quebec City to study and work in French.

After graduation I moved with my husband John to Toronto, where I worked as a researcher for a social research company and as school secretary at the Wandering Spirit Survival School, while completing my M.Ed in adult education at OISE.

Eventually we moved back to Peterborough in search of cheap housing, and I worked as a youth employment counsellor and on a number of aboriginal research projects before landing a junior editor job with Today’s Parent magazine. It was an instant, perfect “fit” and I was there for over 25 years, ending up as editor-in-chief of Special Editions. Now I work from home as a freelance writer and editor, including as editor of Education Canada magazine, and work on my fiction whenever I can find the time.

Along the way I’ve raised three boys and have read untold numbers of wonderful books with them. But I’m not sure what flipped the switch and turned me from a person who loves reading stories to a person who loves writing them. In any case, once I got started, I became instantly addicted. Now, if I'm not working on a story, I'm looking for one!

In my “non-writing” spare time I enjoy singing in choirs, gardening, birdwatching, reading in the bathtub, and hanging out at the cottage. I volunteer with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. And I’m a very good Scrabble player.

Reviews

[Megan]

The male protagonist, Jack, shows a lot of self-control in the book. He has Type 1 Diabetes, and he has to monitor his blood sugar and insulin quite a bit. His attention to this during the course of the storyline and how he works to maintain a healthy level demonstrates this strength.

[River]

If you never read Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl, it goes something like this: A poor little girl out in the street attempts to sell matches out in the cold. Everyone ignores this child. She is freezing and eventually attempts to light the matches to keep herself warm. It does not work. She dies.
Okay there's a little more to it than that, but I'm trying to make a point here.
It's kind of a creepy story.

Holly Bennett imagines the fairy tale is based on a real little girl named Klara in the paranormal YA "Drawn Away." Seventeen year old Jack is in math class one second, and the next he finds himself in a dark and misty street in another time, where the only other person is an eerie and mysterious scrawny little girl with large blue eyes. She doesn't seem to be terribly lucid, and she tries to sell Jack some matches.

Jack is back in math class again. He brushes it off, but these episodes continue to occur, and Match Girl becomes more lucid, and gains a fixation with Jack. She wants him to stay where she is.
Enter Lucy, a schoolmate with a checkered past who has a strained relationship with her mother, and an interesting connection to Jack's little problem.

Drawn Away is a quick, easy read. Though I wouldn't exactly call the book a fairy tale retelling, fans of such a genre will enjoy this one. Intertwined throughout the novel is the theme of family and healing with regards to Lucy and her mother, making her story just as important and endearing as Jack's. The old letters and diaries the two teens find both transport and compel, and while we never truly find out why Jack gets lured to Klara in the first place, the story wraps up in a satisfying conclusion.

[Courtney Giraldo]

Drawn Away, was provided to me for free in exchange for an honest review from Librarything.

A senior in highschool, Jack and his family are new in town. While sitting in math class, Jack suddenly becomes transported to another time a place. To an antiquated town with a waif of a girl selling matches on the street corner. Although spooked at first by the realistic feeling of the encounter, Jack, a type one diabetic, shrugs off the strange occurrence as a low blood sugar episode and soon doesn't think much of it. Until it happens again.....and again. Each time the match girl becomes more animated and fearsome. With the help of his new friend (and love interest Lucy) the two race against the clock to figure out who this match girl is, how their lives are connected, and how to stop her dangerous obsession with Jack, before he is drawn away into her world forever. 
I have to say, this was a really unique twist on the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale. While a short read, it was packed with an interesting plot and relatable characters. I found it refreshing and unique to have a main character someone who lives with a chronic illness, even more so to have that illness play a major role in the story line and serve as a point of conflict. Learning the backstory of the match girl and how her life from the past is inexplicably intertwined with the main characters from the present was interesting and fun to follow. The conflict resolution was a tad rushed to me, but overall I enjoyed the read and was happy with the ending. Of note, while the books target age is listed as 12 and up, I would say it isn't quite appropriate for the middle school crowd given some strong language and sexual situations.

[B]

This was okay. I’m a big fan of Hans Christian Anderson so when I saw that a lesser known story of his was turned into a retelling I had to try it. Unfortunately it fell a little flat. Jack and Lucy’s romance seemed a little boring and time passed weirdly in the book. I loved the perspective from the Match Girl, but thought everything about her backstory was drawn out and slightly unnecessary. Some parts overall were better than others but if you like fairy tail retellings I’d recommend it.

[Rebecca Brown]

This book was great! It was a quick, easy read and I enjoyed it. The tie-ins from the past added to the story and were really what helped bring the story to life in a way that was interesting. The main story was sweet, but some parts of the book I had to reread because I had forgotten what happened or I had skimmed a bit cause some parts were a little slow. But overall I loved the characters and the story was really fun to read!

[606]

I fret the characters lives and fine details were unfelt by the readers, I myself included. I felt I couldn’t have that connection with any characters because of the lack of information we got of them. Especially when Lucy first saw Klara, it would’ve been interesting if the moment was More dragged out, what I’m getting at is that the story’s key elements lack details. The story’s fast paced. I expected quite a bit from this story..

[Agent X]

I have to admit it--I first picked Drawn Away up because the cover typogrpahy is just so darn beautiful. I didn't know if I'd actually like the book. Guess I got lucky! The premise was interesting and the story kept me hooked through the end. A YA with likable characters, Drawn Away made me feel for all sides--not just the lead. Nice job, Holly Bennett! 4.5/5

[Kaitlyn]

I personally loved the story Jack and Lucy go on. With epic twists and turns and paranormal suspense. The romance the story takes us on is well mixed with the more suspenseful scenes in the story. All in all a great read.

[Lexi]

Really creepy story. Learned a lot of things I didn't know about the Canadian public high school system. Good readalike for Far Far Away.

[Gina]

A very on the edge of your seat book. I love how the story of the Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson is developed into the story. It is fast paced and very enjoyable. Good creepy book.

[Sherry Guice]

This is an Orca book that retells and weaves the story of "The Little Match Girl." The book is short and edgy enough to appeal to reluctant readers--even high school.

[Tania]

As a mum to two T1's I was delighted to find this in my local library. I came across it by chance which is often fun :)

[Misti]

Jack, a seventeen-year-old diabetic, has just moved to a new town, but apart from starting a new school and monitoring his condition, now he's also having weird visions of a Victorian waif, the Little Match Girl, who seems to want something from him. Jack and his new friend Lucy must discover why Jack is having these visions, and how to stop them before Jack is pulled into the Little Match Girl's world forever.

The plot was fairly good and the characters were interesting, but the writing was utilitarian. If you're a big Hans Christian Andersen fan, this might be worth a read, but it's not one I'd recommend across the board.

[Katy]

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Well, I kind of loved this book.
The story was a combination of good ol'fashion contemporary YA and the fairy tale, The Match Girl. I loved the way the author blended a touch of history into the modern part of the story. We learn a little backstory about the Match Girl from Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale.
The writing was simple, which I liked. Not every YA needs to read like a Diablo Cody screenplay. The story was unique. I've never read anything quite like it. The Match Girl's story (as written by H.C.A) is a sad one, but the life and backstory that the author wrote for her (and her mother) was heartbreaking. More so, perhaps, because countless children lived lives just like hers.
I loved that there is a bit of everything in this book, it has romance, mystery, fantasy, even a bit of suspense. Something for everyone.
The only thing that didn't really work for me was the internal dialogue of Jack and Lucy. Their thoughts see-sawed between what a normal seventeen year old would think and then *poof* they would sound like they were forty. It was just plain weird to read a high schooler thinking to himself that he needed to urinate.
All in all, a really fun book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that loves fairy tales.

[Erik]

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.