Stick With Me

September 15, 2020
Two girls navigate the slippery ice of tween friendship. Twelve-year-old Izzy is no longer best friends with Phoebe. Instead, Phoebe has attached herself to the popular (but mean) Daphne, and Daphne makes a point of excluding Izzy. To make matters worse, Izzy's parents inform her that for financial reasons they will be moving to the apartment over their garage for a week because they've rented their house out to a family from out of town. This family also has a 12-year-old daughter, Wren, and they want to be close to the hospital where their 4-year-old is having surgery. At the book's beginning, the girls' stories are told in alternating third-person chapters integrated so well- that when the two ultimately intertwine it is both natural and fresh. Wren, unlike Izzy, isn't concerned with friendships or lack thereof. Wren has a focus and a passion: figure skating. And she is not happy to leave her practice rink four weeks before the sectionals competition to come with her family--though she feels bad about that. Wren and Izzy inevitably meet, but their budding friendship hits a snag, and it's not certain if either girl can find the courage to make amends. Wren and Izzy have depth and nuance that give their stories vitality and believability, but the mean-girl storyline is run-of-the-mill (although the getting even part is fun). All characters read as White. A pleasurable balance of original and satisfying. (Fiction. 9-12)

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Starred review from October 1, 2020

Gr 3-6-Blecher preserves the ingredients from her successful debut, Out of Place, and reworks them in this stunning novel. Wren is a talented ice-skater who travels to Boston to be with her little sister Hannah while she undergoes surgery at a local hospital. Her parents rent a house for a week, and Wren moves into the room of a young girl her age named Izzy. Izzy and her family move into the apartment above their garage, and they form a friendship with their new tenants. Wren joins Izzy for her week-long theater camp, and is absorbed into a web of drama that threatens to complicate their relationship. These two unlikely friends soon learn what it means to "stick together." Blecher has a clear gift for writing about young girls who live on social margins, and the particular struggle of wanting to belong while staying faithful to one's self. Izzy and Wren are relatable heroines with flaws, impulses, and dreams that will resonate with young readers. Wren's family is uprooted from their routine, which results in a considerable amount of stress and anxiety as they anticipate the outcome of Hannah's surgery. Blecher addresses the difficult topic with sensitivity and realism, without sugarcoating the very real effect of medical transitions on families. VERDICT A smart and emotionally honest book that lays bare the complexities of friendship and of growing up.-Katherine Hickey, Metropolitan Lib. Syst., Oklahoma City

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October 5, 2020
Artistic Izzy, 12, feels out of place in her rapidly shifting world. Her former best friend only wants to hang out with the class mean girl, and Izzy’s parents recently moved the family into their garage apartment so they can rent out their Boston home for a week. Figure skater Wren, also 12, plans to spend her school break on the ice; she’s dismayed to learn that her family will instead be heading to Boston. There, they’ll rent a house near the hospital where Wren’s four-year-old sister will undergo surgery for epilepsy. When the rental situation throws the girls together, and their mothers sign them up for a weeklong drama camp, Izzy and Wren become unlikely confidantes and discover the power of a supportive friendship. Each protagonist is layered and relatable:
anxious Izzy uses her art to navigate
her emotions, while Wren regrets her habit of speaking harshly before thinking. In chapters that alternate between the girls’ perspectives, Blecher (Out of Place) keenly illustrates the agonies and intricacies of tween friendship, as well as the familial challenges of being 12: “Too old to stomp your feet and whine. Too young to actually decide anything important.” Ages 8–12. Agent: Alexander Slater, Trident Media Group.