RaveLocusit is a perfectly tailored sport for a story about witchcraft – teenage girls (plus one boy) who really, really want to win while running around on a field wielding sticks at their opponents. When you throw in a potent setting, in this case the town of Danvers MA that was home to the original Salem accusers (also teenage girls), then you start to wonder why in the world no one has ever written before about a field hockey team that falls for magical temptation. Happily, Barry, who was raised in Danvers, is perfectly poised to dig deep into her hometown’s past while also reveling in all the opportunities presented by a complicated group of teenagers pursuing one goal while trying not to go too far in the process. Basically, We Ride Upon Sticks is the sort of glorious drama-filled fun that any teen could want to lose themselves in and a most excellent diversion for the waning days of the truly bitter and brutal year that is 2020 ... Barry manages to balance the stories of 11 different characters in unique and specific ways ... We Ride Upon Sticks is not technically a young-adult novel, but with a full cast of teen characters and high school setting it’s impossible not to see this as a hit for older teens.
