Sticks and Stones

by Abby Cooper
Hennepin County Library hardcover 276
genre: YA fiction

Basic premise: Sixth grader Elyse has a rare condition with the acronym of CAV. Words people call her show up on her arms and legs. If they are nice, like "beautiful" or "cool," they tickle or soothe. If they are unkind, they itch badly.

This book is clearly written for younger readers and I had to shift my mindset to that of an eleven-year-old.

What I liked:
- Her monthly letters to her future self got better (more interesting) as the book went on (as the character matured over the course of the year)
- The humor of Dr. Patel saying "People are changing. Your body is changing." / Elyse: "Ew. I squirmed in my seat. That was one change we really did not need to discuss." That reminded me of the time my dad offered to talk to me about menstruation. I was thirteen and thought, "Why on God's green earth would I talk to YOU about that when I have mom and two sisters?!?!" Or something along those lines . . .
- The truth of some of the experiences, like Jeg handing out invitations to her birthday party and skipping her former-best-friend Elyse. "She saw me looking at her empty hands and gave me one of those you-don't-get-it looks people give me when they pat my leg. Then she skipped away with Snotty Ami and Lindsey, laughing loudly at something (how was something always funny?), just as boppy and perky and annoying as she had come."
- I like that she made other friendships. "I forced my gaze away from Liam and Jeg and looked at JaShawn, Hector, Layla, and Nice Andy. My friends. Why did I care so much about people who didn't care about me?"

What I disliked:
- How does a best friend and defender suddenly ditch her and act so awful? The reasons are explained late in the book, but baffles me all the same. Perhaps because I've not experienced that kind of betrayal.
- The overall shallowness of the storytelling . . . probably because the protagonist is a sixth grader. Or because I've been reading other books that are more complex lately.
- With such a focus on name-calling and how hurtful it is, why does she consistently refer to a classmate as "Snotty Ami"? Again, she addresses this later in the book, realizing that Ami is a person, too. And she is even extremely kind and thoughtful to this unkind girl, but still . . .

I think what I liked best about this book is learning that the author is from Minnesota and a former teacher and school librarian. Hey, I'm biased!