Author Amy Quan Barry played on the Danvers High School field hockey team in the late 1980s.

Many of the events around the infamous Salem Witchcraft trials actually took place in Danvers, Massachusetts, which at the time was known as Salem Village.

Barry’s writing touches on a variety of genres, including magical realism and speculative fiction.

We Ride Upon Sticks (2020) is the fictional story of the 1989 Danvers Falcons Field Hockey team.

This team is not very good.

BUT near the end of summer training camp, they call on witchcraft invoking new powers both on and off the field.

If you were alive in the 1980s, the highlight of this book are the many, MANY pop culture references.

It’s often laugh-out-loud funny.

A whimsical read.

If ReTrumplican politicians are looking for yet another book to ban in schools — this would fit the bill.

It’s all about personal identity in terms of the race, gender, and sexuality of 17-year-old High School senior girls. And one boy on the team.

REVIEW – BookReporter