Stick With Me

An ice skater without a rink. An artist without a place to draw. Two misfit girls who become unlikely friends over the course of an unusual week. In a starred review, School Library Journal called Stick With Me a “stunning novel” that “lays bare the complexities of friendship and of growing up.” Jennifer Blecher’s nuanced understanding of middle school friendship shines in this voice-driven novel for fans of Laurel Snyder and Jennifer Holm.

Izzy’s best friend seems to be ditching her for the Queen of Mean, Daphne Toll. Izzy wants to fit in and have some real friends, but all she really has are her drawings. And then her family rents their house out during winter break for some extra cash―and that family’s daughter is sleeping in Izzy’s room and attending the same camp!

Wren is focused on perfecting her ice-skating routine after tanking at sectionals last year. But when her sister qualifies for a life-changing treatment for her epilepsy, Wren is carted off to stay in a rented home in Boston. It doesn’t help that she’s forced to attend the local theater camp, where it seems like the mean girls have it out for her.

Jennifer Blecher, the acclaimed author of Out of Place, writes with a pitch-perfect ear for tween girls and the ups and downs of middle school friendships. Told from dual perspectives, Stick with Me is a sensitively drawn story about fitting in and figuring yourself out. Readers of Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Rebecca Stead, and Lisa Graff will find characters they can relate to.