We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

I have no idea how to review this book.

Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash

There were so many things I loved, but it took me several days to finish because I kept putting it down.

So . . . I think I'll give a holistic review first, include a jump break, and then add some content warnings. (Click here is you want to start with the content warnings.)

Holistic Review

We Ride Upon Sticks is a young adult novel centered around 11 field hockey teammates during their state championship run in fall of 1989.  So, this is set in high in the late 1980s, something I know a thing or two about, and it's a hell of a nostalgic trip.  This is also a team that went 2-8 the season before, so putting their team name, Danvers Lady Falcons, in the same sentence as "state championship" is an amazing thing.  Possibly a dark, otherworldly thing.  You see, Danvers, Mass is an integral part of the Salem Witch Trials history, and the Lady Falcons (including Boy Cory), all swore an oath to The Darkness while at field hockey summer camp.

And that's when they really started getting good.

So, we have 11 high school athletes coming into their own strengths and abilities, frequent references to the Salem Witch Trials, and 1980s nostalgia.  This couldn't be more up my alley.

The title is part of a quote from Tibuta's, the one enslaved woman accused, testimony during her trial.  "We ride upon sticks . . . and get there presently."

The book reads a little long to me, but that's partially because there are 11 teammates, and each gets their own attention. But, overall, I think it's a great read on teen drama and friendship, and it does an amazing job parsing the cultural differences between 1989-1990 and 2019-2020.  A partial list of what it smartly touches on includes sexual orientation, gender identity, homophobia, racial identity, date rape, and seat belt usage. The handling of the Salem Witch Trials hysteria is very well done, too.

Overall, it's funny and touching and powerful. 

But I kept putting it down. If you want to see why, read the content warnings below.

Content Warnings

Statutory rape--This isn't written on the page.  It's hinted at in places, challenged in one section, and rather glossed over as an artifact of history in the end of the book.  As the author, Quan Barry, puts the following words into your characters' mouths:

And I, apparently, can't let that go.  Her point about 12-year-olds tried as adults is a valid one.  I also understand that 17- & 18-year-olds are frequently convinced they know exactly what they should be doing and don't need the interference of "real adults".  So having these characters say this rings true to the age, to the stage of life, and to the journey these characters were on within this particular story.

I get ALL of that.

And I still can't let that go.

First Person Plural & Third Person--Every once in a while in Book Review Land, a fight about first-person narratives versus third-person narratives will break out.  There are people who SWEAR that can't read one kind, and it ruins a book for them.  I usually ignore that fight because in most well-written stories, I don't notice.

But, but, this one?  It's written in First Person Plural until it's written in Third Person.

(Say what?  It's written about we, the group, until sections focus on a single team mate, and then it's she and he.)

Part of the story line is the kind of team mind meld or hive mind mentality that the players start to take on; the players feel like they can hear each other thoughts.  This gets attributed to the power of their oath, and there's a hilarious scene where their coach gets pulled into with not-so-awesome results.

So talking about "we thought this" and "we believed that" fits the story line.  BUT, there are big things that the teammates don't know about each other, so they aren't really of one mind.

And that first person plural made me CRAZY.  I read the first four chapters, stopped, and re-read them, because I assumed that one team mate would be the I in the we and, perhaps, I had missed that reveal.  But no.  Just first person plural. *whimpers*