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Andrew Merritt loves to sketch pictures of ships. But he never expected his drawings would become real ships, or that his maps of a country he created could result in a journey to a fantastic land. When Andrew’s uncle disappears and leaves behind a mysterious leather pouch, Andrew uses it to store the pictures of the ships he draws. To his surprise, he soon begins to receive letters in the pouch, asking for more weapons and equipment to use in battle. Andrew quickly realizes that what seems impossible is true —his drawings have become reality. Like the classic children’s fantasy novels, "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Alice in Wonderland," "Drawn to Danger" by Jeff Burton allows its young hero to be pulled into a marvelous fantasy world, and it is one full of fun and excitement, but also danger.
Drawn to Danger
Jeff Burton
Jeff Burton (2011)
ISBN 9781460980361
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age13) for Reader Views (5/11)
“Drawn to Danger” by Jeff Burton is the story of Andrew, a boy who finds himself caught up in a storm of events when his drawings are sucked into another world and become real. Andrew’s Uncle Bob mysteriously disappeared and was given up for dead. As the family was cleaning out his apartment, Andrew found a small leather pouch with an eagle insignia which he kept. He started storing his drawings of ships inside the pouch. The next day he opened the pouch and found, not his drawings, but a letter from a certain Mr. Sprottle thanking him for some ships. Will Andrew find out what is happening to his drawings and who Mr. Sprottle is? Will this help him find his lost uncle?
After losing several drawings to the pouch, Andrew wrote a letter and put it into the pouch asking about what and who was on the other side of the pouch. Mr. Sprottle responded. He told him that the small country of Eagleslea was under attack from an evil pirate chieftain named Scarcliff, and the country was in desperate need of reinforcements and supplies. He thanked Andrew for the new warships that arrived in their harbor overnight (they were his drawings come to life). He begged Andrew for more supplies and ships. Andrew enlisted his friends to draw supplies.
Soon after his correspondence with Eagleslea began, Andrew remembered a special trunk that his parents had sold. He had reason to believe that the trunk had the ability to transport someone to Eagleslea. He set out to find the trunk. When he found the college student who had purchased it, she was more than willing to give it back because the trunk had “eaten” her cat, Miss Kittums. During this escapade Andrew continued correspondence with Eaglslea and had reason to believe that his uncle was there. This made Andrew more determined than ever to try and save his uncle.
After arriving in Eagleslea, Andrew was swept into a battle between the greatly outnumbered forces of Eaglslea and the evil pirate hordes. In the battle, the Eagleslean trunk was destroyed taking with it Andrew’s escape route home. Andrew decided that even if his chance to go home was destroyed, he would at least try and save his uncle. Stocked with several bags of chips and a few cans of soda, he set out ready to take on the entire pirate army in order to free his uncle. He arrived at the pirate camp where he was apprehended at gunpoint and brought before Scarcliff himself. The evil pirate rambled on for a while about Andrew’s world and how he, Scarcliff, had found Eagleslea and the pirates. He then demanded chips and soda in exchange for Andrew’s uncle’s release. But will the dread pirate stay true to his word and free Andrew and his uncle?
I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and pirate stories. It was a very entertaining read and I didn’t want to put it down until I finished it. This was the author’s second book and I hope he keeps writing more.
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