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We Ride Upon Sticks: A Novel (Alex Award Winner)

by Quan Barry

A 1989 team season with a Salem-era shadow

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A 1989 team season with a Salem-era shadow

Set in Danvers, Massachusetts, against the history of the 1692 witch trials, Quan Barry’s novel centers on a high-school field hockey team pursuing a place in the state finals. The Falcons’ season brings together athletic ambition, friendship, and the possibility of supernatural help, with the team’s shared progress alongside the stories of its members. Its 1980s setting and a captain descended from Salem accuser Ann Putnam connect the sport’s present-day stakes to the town’s past. The description also frames the players’ choices as a challenge to conventional expectations of femininity, making team life the setting for questions of identity as well as competition.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in sports fiction with supernatural elements.
  • Readers drawn to stories of team friendship and collective ambition.
  • Readers interested in novels that engage with femininity and the history of the Salem witch trials.

Themes

Teamwork and friendshipCompetition and ambitionFemininity and identitySalem witch-trial historySupernatural power

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In the town of Danvers, Massachusetts, home of the original 1692 witch trials, the 1989 Danvers Falcons will do anything to make it to the state finals--even if it means tapping into some devilishly dark powers.

Against a background of irresistible 1980s iconography, Quan 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. Through the crucible of team sport and, more importantly, friendship, this comic tour de female force chronicles Barry's glorious cast of characters as they charge past every obstacle on the path to finding their glorious true selves.
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.