Stick With Me by Jennifer Blecher – Book Review

Title: Stick With Me Author: Jennifer Blecher Publisher: Greenwillow Books Release Date: November 3, 2020

Izzy is the most talented artist in the 6^th grade. Art is her escape, a way for Izzy to express her complicated emotions, especially since her best friend, Phoebe, has ditched her for the meanest girl in their grade. Suddenly, the solace Izzy finds through drawing is disrupted when another family rents out Izzy’s family’s house for a week.

Wren is a dedicated, talented ice skater, preparing for the upcoming sectionals competition. She plans to practice every moment she can until her plans go awry when her parents announce they are going away for a week. Wren and her family need to stay at a house, Izzy’s house, near Boston’s Children’s Hospital because her sister Hannah is slated to undergo brain surgery. Hannah suffers epilepsy, and the surgery is the culmination of years of tests, doctor’s appointments, and therapies, none of which have completely worked.

Although in close quarters, it is not until both girls end up at Izzy’s school’s theater camp for the week-long winter break that they gradually warm up to each other. The girls find common ground in their situation and a common foe in Daphne. Although their budding friendship is challenged by tween drama, Izzy and Wren team up and stick up for each other.

Stick With Me by Jennifer Blecher gives reader a small but powerful snapshot into the ebb and flow of middle school friendships. By alternating between Wren’s perspective and Izzy’s perspective, the author is able to create complex characters and a comprehensive narrative in a short amount of time. Izzy and Wren, both assuming the White Default, possess starkly different interests, personality, and circumstances. Yet, their ability to still find common ground offers a compelling lesson for readers. Blecher also does a fantastic job of making Wren and Izzy’s road to friendship messy. It is not perfect. There are hiccups. Therefore, it’s realistic. At the same time, the girls’ ability to come together and be there for each other will keep readers interested and engaged in their respective stories to the end.

Middle grade teachers and counselors that find themselves supporting students in the midst of tween drama will find Stick With Me a great discussion vehicle. Similar to how the counselor in the novel has a “lunch bunch” with a group of students, a teacher or counselor could use the text to organize the same sort of gathering. The novel could be used as a way for students to connect with one another and see their shared experiences. Stick With Me could also be a valuable part of literature circles focused on friendship, building a positive classroom community, or other themes related empathy. No matter the context, Stick With Me’s lessons and themes have clear relevance and therefore clear value for the young readers it is intended to reach.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Greenwillow Books, for an eARC of this book.

Classroom Applications

• Literature Circles – Use the novel as part of a study of themes of middle school and friendship.
• Book Club or Book Exchange – Share the novel with students that enjoy reading realistic fiction or books about friendship.

Nonfiction Connections

The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.

• Epilepsy
• Ice Skating
• Drawing Tutorials

Book Companions

The following are great books to pair with Stick With Me. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.

• Serena Says by Tanita S. Davis (Character Connections, Themes)
• Shouting at the Rain by Linda Mullaly Hunt (Character Connections, Themes)
• Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin (Character Connections, Themes)
• Quintessence by Rebecca Stead (Character Connections, Themes)

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