We Ride Upon Sticks

We Ride Upon Sticks

YA fiction
"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 think that back in the 20th century, for many of us growing up
on the North Shore of Massachusetts (Beverly in my case), the Salem
Witch Trials were more than just a dusty, ancient history footnote. A
lot of tourism and regional identity was centered on that. Town
boundaries have shifted some since the days when Puritan clergymen
were the influencers. What is now Danvers formerly was Salem Village,
home of most of the possessed girls. It's also the setting of Quan
Barry's We Ride Upon Sticks, a coming of age narrative that neatly
connects past and present.
In the summer of 1989 the Danvers High School Falcons arrived at
Camp Wildcat fresh off a losing streak. Their previous season's 2-8
was the team's decade best. A painful loss to the Masconomet
Chieftains shows no signs of a turn around.
"...Had we each really paid $375 to live in the dorms and
mornings doing burpees, our afternoons being publicly gutted? We were
down 6-0 thirty-two minutes into play. By the time we finally scored
at the fifty-five minute mark, Masco was playing their third string."
But turn around is exactly what happens. The next game ends in
a 1-1 tie with goalie Mel setting a camp record for saves. Then the
Falcons start to win. By the time their season starts in the fall
people are beginning to see them as a powerhouse to be reckoned with.
So what happened? It seems that Mel had found a witchcraft book
in the library. Team members sign their names, pledging their
allegiance, in a notebook and take to wearing blue arm bands. Then
when what they have seems to wane, they see a need to crank things up
a notch: pranks, vandalism... Who knows what lengths they'll go to to
become state champions?
They are teens, however, and not immune to the uncertainties and
trials of just about everyone on the bridge between child and
adulthood. And they are quite a diverse bunch along just about every
dimension you can imagine including race. Sadly the narrative
contains a lot of micro and not so micro aggressions--everything from
peer interactions to English class literature choices.
Author Barry herself was born in Vietnam. She attended Danvers
High and was a member of the '89 Falcons. Touchingly, except for
historical and public figures, the only nonfictional character is her
beloved coach who died in 2019.
I really enjoyed all the allusions to my old stomping grounds.
Who knows?Maybe when it's once again reasonably safe to travel I'll
visit the North Shore with as many of my kids as I can talk into
accompanying me.
On a purrrsonal note, Tobago and I are having a good week. The
weather has been ideal. Community Garden is blossoming beautifully.
I have no clue what I'm doing this weekend. Maybe I'll be going to
camp. I hope you have something fun planned. (Jules)
Very nice weather. Lots of birdies to watch (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to you, our readers with best wishes
for a great weekend.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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