I have a history of disappointment with comic novels, in that I never much like them or find them all that comic, but I enjoyed this book immensely. It is truly funny! Or it matches up with my sense of humor better than those other novels. Maybe it also helps having been a teenager in 1989/1990, myself. Whatever. The writing is smart and witty and for such a large cast of characters, each one comes through as an individual remarkably well. Jen Fiorenza’s Claw and Mel Boucher’s Splotch are also characters who in Their own right will live long in my memory.

Nominally about a high school varsity field hockey team’s turnaround from chumps to champs, with a side of teenage dabbling in witchcraft and the Salem witch trials, it is really about a group of teenage girls coming into their own in the late eighties. Each girl (and one teenage boy) has her own unique family dynamics and expectations cocooning her, and if writing her name in a book of darkness (fronted by Emilio Estevez) and occasionally dancing naked in the woods together helps her to find and live her true self, what’s the harm. It all makes for a touching, humane, and very comic novel. ( )

Strange but fun book.

I graduated high school in 1988 and this takes place in 1989 so all of the cultural references speak directly to me in a super funny way. I’m not sure that would be true for people who aren’t my same age.

Magic, friendship, coming of age.





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Funny, deep, dense, and a powerful time travel to 1989. ( )

So good -- this is a pure 5-star rating, all net. I cannot wait for her next book! It's lovely to find a new favorite author. If you like funny pop culture-infused historical novels about American teenagers in the late 20th century, put this on your list right now. ( )

A super fun read. ( )