THE MATCHSTICK GIRL brings LGBT undercurrents to nineteenth-century Russia, as our young protagonist struggles with class differences, schoolgirl relationships and her search for self-empowerment. YELENA walks the line between cold and poverty. Then for a brief moment fortune shines on her and Yelena catches a glimpse of hopes and unknown joys that she never imagined could have been within her reach. But as soon as it appears, it is taken from her. Obsession takes hold and as the years pass, she grows to want far more than what the life of a young girl on the streets can offer. Through luck and deceit, she lands a place at the esteemed Smolny Institute for Noble Girls where the young women of the Russian court are taught mathematics, literature and science and where Yelena hopes to light a fire under Russian society. THE MATCHSTICK GIRL by Suzanne Hocking 5" x 8" 230 pages ISBN 978-1-926716-34-3 (pbk.) $15.88