Quan Barry

From the author of the widely acclaimed She Weeps Each Time You're Born comes a new novel, at once comic and moving. Set in the coastal town of Danvers, Massachusetts (which in 1692 was Salem Village, site of the origins of the Salem Witch Trials), it follows the Danvers High field hockey team as they discover that the dark impulses of their Salem forebears may be the key to a winning season. In this tour de female force, the 1989 Danvers Falcons are on an unaccountable winning streak. In chapters dense with '80s iconography--from Heathers to Big Hair--Quan Barry expertly weaves together the individual and collective journeys of this enchanted team as they storm their way to the state championship. Helmed by good-girl captain Abby Putnam (a descendant of the infamous Salem accuser Ann Putnam) and her co-captain Jen Fiorenza, whose bleached blond Claw sees and knows all, the DHS Falcons prove to be as wily and original as their North of Boston ancestors, flaunting society's stale notions of femininity in order to find their glorious true selves through the crucible of team sport.

We Ride Upon Sticks

Lara Engle

I had a really hard time getting into this book. Fifty-four pages in, I took the step of asking my online book club (The Fantastic Strangelings) if it was going to get better, because I really really didn't care about field hockey or Jen's anthropomorphic claw bangs. They assured me thatit would pick up, and it definitely did. I'd say that by page 56 things were looking up. I was relieved, because the idea of a book about a 1980s field hockey team using witchcraft and Emilio Estevez to finally have a winning season not being fun was just unfathomable. As We Ride Upon Sticks progresses, we learn about each player as an individual and explore their inner selves, complete with insecurities, confusion, growing confidence, and identity crises. It's a satisfying and funny ride, proving to be worth the effort.

"See, it turns out all those long dark hopeless seasons, we'd been putting our chips on the wrong god. Honestly, of all places on earth, the town of Danvers should have seen us coming."

I LOVED THIS BOOK. With a gaping hole in my heart after Yellowjackets season 2, I picked this book up after being told it would bring me at least some of the same feelings YJ gives me and I am so pleased that it did. Though the prose is dense, I never found that I was skimming anything. Each character was a delight to dig into the head of and the use of the collective we as the main narration voice made everything really come together. Overall just a fantastic read.

"See, it turns out all those long dark hopeless seasons, we'd been putting our chips on the wrong god. Honestly, of all places on earth, the town of Danvers should have seen us coming."

I LOVED THIS BOOK. With a gaping hole in my heart after Yellowjackets season 2, I picked this book up after being told it would bring me at least some of the same feelings YJ gives me and I am so pleased that it did. Though the prose is dense, I never found that I was skimming anything. Each character was a delight to dig into the head of and the use of the collective we as the main narration voice made everything really come together. Overall just a fantastic read.

Sonja H

Nicht schlecht geschrieben, aber so gar nicht meins.

Amy Vicknair

Nostalgic and funny but the plot was lacking. And too many characters

Riah Forbes 

** spoiler alert **
           Excellent escapist quarantine reading. The last chapter or two were a bit too tie-up-all-loose-ends-into-pretty-bows for me, but apart from that, I enjoyed this book. The collective hive mind narration confused me in the beginning, but overall it worked. Longer review to come at some point.

Elizabeth Moore

Omg. I loved this book. 4.5 stars if I could round, only star loss-age coming from wishing Barry hadn’t wrapped it up as rapidly as she did and wanting to have gotten to dive a bit more deeply into just a few of the characters. Otherwise, just. So. Much. Nostalgic. Awesomeness. 

If you grew up playing field hockey in New England anywhere between 1980 to 2005 and you don’t see yourself in this book, I’ll eat my hat. While there is no way this book can ever be accused of being unoriginal, it’s also impossible not to feel like you’ve lived everything that this book has to offer if you had the experience of being a wooden stick-wielding, kilt-wearing, colonial-history-specializing, I-90/91/84 or Route-1-driving teen girl (or boy). 

Dressed up under the wickedly clever (and equally entertaining) guise of a coven of teen girls embroiled in witchcraft-ery and Brat Pack dark magic in the naming of going to the State Finals, this is actually a book about females coming into their own voices and power in a time that was really really good at telling young girls exactly what they should and shouldn’t be. I read a few reviews that noted that some of the character tropes in this book felt one-dimensional; I actually think it helped define the world the reader thought they were looking at from the beginning: the It Girl, the Church Girl, the Token Minority Girl, the Asian Girl, the Lesbian Girl, the All American Girl, the Bad Girl, The Brain, Big Boobs Girl, Cute and Sweet Girl, even Token Gay Best Friend. As a reader, you watch these archetypes evolve and devolve into individual, surprising, and well-earned forms all their own, and it worked for me.

And really... the scenes at Papa Gino’s, the (obviously) Big-E, the party woods, the field house, they all succeeded in giving me the most wonderful heart pangs of joy and familiarity and warm, fuzzy memories of being a young New England gal in a pre-tech-obsessed, self-obsessed world. 

This book was everything. I will read again. Field Field Field. Hockey Hockey Hockey.

Stephanie Cox

Teen girls are terrifying. This book was warm and funny and mildly unhinged. I got a little sick of hearing about the Claw at one point, but by halfway through I was deeply engrossed. This is a good lighthearted chaser if you're currently experiencing a Yellowjackets hangover.

mia ¿

** spoiler alert **
           ok ok ok, why was this so good? i mean i had high expectations based on the cover but i HATE sports so i thought it wouldn't completely love this... but i actually did and i was so glad i picked this up to read!!!!!

it was kinda hard to get used to, cuz the chapters are looooong ones and usually i like to read whole chapter before putting a book down, but i couldn't do that with this one. but it didn't matter, i ended up liking it anyway. also, the narrating was kinda weird at first, how it jumped back and forth in time and it wasn't clear who exactly the narrator was (it's never states, but the way they know everything makes it seem like it's just all of the team) but i got used to it and i loved it. i thought it was great how it doesn't tell you everything all at once, and it doesn't overstate things. it doesn't treat you like you're stupid, which i guess i should expect from an adult book, but it really let you realize things on your own. it made the writing just really mysterious and also realistic? not sure how to describe it but i know i will be rereading this...

the only thing i didn't like was the epilogue chapter, which showed the team all grown up in 2019, or 30 years later. i didn't even hate it, it just read like a mom writing it. which i guess was accurate, but i thought in some places it was just a little too over-explanatory (almost preachy? but not quite). i just preferred the little asides in the rest of the book when the narrator mentions how things were different back then and they realize it now. i think the last chapter should have just been the events of the championship game, because they were cool to read about in flashbacks in the epilogue. but still, it was different and unexpected, so it wasn't terrible.

overall, this book was just really fun and i haven't read a book that was pure fun in a long time. there was drama, magic, some mystery, great 80s references, and 11 amazing character studies. it was really all there. a surprising new favorite!!!

"We Ride Upon Sticks . . . is for the kind of adults who watch Stranger Things and still have, somewhere, an athletic award inscribed on a paper plate." —NPR **NPR “Best Books of 2020** **TIME “Must Read Books of 2020”** **Book Riot "Best Books of 2020** **Literary Hub "Our 65 Favorite Books of 2020** Acclaimed novelist Quan Barry delivers a tour de female force in this delightful novel. Set in the coastal town of Danvers, Massachusetts, where the accusations began that led to the 1692 witch trials, We Ride Upon Sticks follows the 1989 Danvers High School Falcons field hockey team, who will do anything to make it to the state finals—even if it means tapping into some devilishly dark powers. In chapters dense with 1980s iconography—from Heathers to "big hair"—Barry expertly weaves together the individual and collective progress of this enchanted team as they storm their way through an unforgettable season. Helmed by good-girl captain Abby Putnam (a descendant of the infamous Salem accuser Ann Putnam) and her co-captain Jen Fiorenza (whose bleached blond “Claw” sees and knows all), the Falcons prove to be wily, original, and bold, flaunting society's stale notions of femininity in order to find their glorious true selves through the crucible of team sport and, more importantly, friendship.

A Novel

Lauren Attaway

This book felt like a mashup of Strangers Things and Heathers with the spirit of The Craft lurking about. In 1989 Massachusetts, a girl’s field hockey team decides to make a deal with darkness to win the state championship and have the best senior year ever. I love all of the movies I felt like this book was influenced by, and while I did have a hard time staying on the plot, I liked the spirit or energy of this book very much.

Jennifer Dieter

There’s so much I love about this book - Barry really crafted a delightful group of characters who embrace magic in an attempt to become state field hockey champs. Barry has a great sense of humor, and there were several points WRUS made me laugh out loud. However, the prose was a bit too dense and there was almost too much in this book. I think some editing would have made it so much stronger. I started to lose track of the plot and characters by the end. I also don’t love a “where are they now” wrap up, but did appreciate to hear how all the characters were leading lives as their authentic selves. Life really has changed a lot since the late 80s.

I really enjoyed this! I think the longer the story sits with me, the more I will appreciate and love it, so rating is subject to change. I loved the themes of friendship and I can’t get enough of the “nostalgic” settings in novels that I have been reading lately, even though I didn’t get to experience the 80s it still brings me that sense of nostalgia. I loved how weird and bizarre the plot was. The only things I struggled with were the pacing through some sections and the dense prose, but the audiobook was great and a huge help. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.

Anastaciya

Okay, it was a really funny one. Interesting, a bit dense writing, but the story and humour makes up for it.

Claire

I don't take comparisons to Heathers lightly, and luckily this one delivered on its dust-jacket promise. A campy, very '80s black comedy about a field hockey team from Danvers, Massachusetts, who sign their names in the devil's book (or, more precisely, a notebook with a picture of Emilio Estevez on the cover) to turn their losing streak around.

Kelsey Holtaway

Casie Blevins

DNF at pg 68. I really wanted to like this book. It came highly recommended from BooksandLala. I just find that I don't give a crap about sports, and the 80's pop culture references weren't enough to keep me invested.

We Ride Upon Sticks

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