July 31, 2023
Inspired by match company workers’ successful strike in 1888 London and using Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” as a framework, Carroll (Sky Chasers) spins a tale that incites a rallying cry for workers’ rights. To make ends meet, tween Bridie Sweeney and her younger brother each contribute to her mother’s London factory job making and selling matches. Bridie’s brother makes matchboxes, her mother dips matchsticks in toxic white phosphorous, and Bridie sells the filled matchboxes on the street, attracting buyers with her irrepressible nature and fanciful stories of her wares’ virtues. When everything unravels one day—her mother is fired due to her failing health, and Bridie loses her matches, money, and shoes in a string of unlucky events—Bridie experiences a series of visions. These apparitions, each seen in the flames of her last three matches, encourage her to fight for a better future. Information about the devastating effects of white phosphorous on workers’ health and the effectiveness of collective action to implement change are woven into a brief and engaging story led by a charismatic heroine. Child (the Clarice Bean series) provides b&w illustrations accented by a fiery red that bring Bridie vividly to life. Archival photographs conclude. Characters read as white. Ages 8–12.