Chicks with Sticks: (Knit Two Together)

KLIATT - Claire Rosser

This chick-lit entry is a sequel to Chicks with Sticks, and is best appreciated as a sequel, not as a stand-alone. It comes complete with directions for four knitting projects, just in case readers are also knitters or wannabe knitters. The main characters introduced in the first book continue their lives here, mostly featuring couples (knit two together) as Scottie gets a boyfriend and tries to figure out what that means to her identity and to her friendships with the other three in their knitting group: Tay, Amanda, and Bella. Each girl has boyfriend experiences of her own, with variations on the romance theme, mostly featuring the tension between dependency and independence and finding the right balance. Lenhard's characters are thoughtful and articulate, and the theme is certainly one that fascinates most girls. Purchase wherever the first book has been a hit.

Children's Literature - Kathleen Foucart

In the second "Chicks with Sticks" book, Scottie and the rest of the Chicks are back, but Scottie is the only one who has not had any dealings with the opposite sex yet. Amanda and Tay both have boyfriends, and Bella has sworn off boys after some encounters at Camp Hippie during the previous summer. Scottie pines after every cute guy she sees but does not really know how to talk to boys or how to act around them. Then, on a seemingly meaningless run to the mailbox in her building's lobby, Scottie meets a Cute Guy who turns out to have just moved to her building from New York—and he is going to be starting at her private school. She is thrilled when he agrees to walk to school with her on his first day so that he can learn the ins and outs of Stark School. But Scottie cannot help but analyze everything in her newfound relationship, even when things seem to be going well—and the Chicks are noticing, too. Will Scottie's new obsession mean the end of the Chicks with Sticks? In this fun sequel, readers will groan along with every faux pas as Scottie tries to keep up with her ever-changing life and learn that not all changes have to be bad. Fans of Ann Brashares' "Traveling Pants" series will appreciate the fated friendship that binds these girls together, and aspiring knitters will love the patterns and project ideas in the back of the book.

VOYA - Tina Frolund

Four Chicago teens who seem to be unlikely companions are devoted friends because of their love of yarn and passion for knitting. Amanda is wealthy and sophisticated, playing with her mother's expectations of debutante glory. Sincere Scottie, Amanda's best friend since first grade, lives with her artsy parents in a loft with very few walls and is anxiously trolling for her first boyfriend. Tay is a tomboyish tough-girl who grows less "cactus-like" everyday; and Bella is a second-generation hippie and devoted yoga practitioner who is swearing off boys until college. Being in high school, finding out one's identity, and discovering how to be a woman are challenging tasks for every generation, but when life is confusing for these girls, the yarn, the needles, and their camaraderie provide order and comfort. Boyfriends and family, the ups and downs of friendship, and above all, a devotion to creative self-expression through craft and to the never-ending quest for the ideal pattern and the most fantastic yarn figure in Lenhard's follow-up volume to her popular Chicks with Sticks: It's a Purl Thing (Dutton, 2005/VOYA December 2005). This hip, breezy novel is sophisticated yet innocent. These modern urban girls live through the perennial experiences of teen angst. Knitters will love this book, and non-knitters will be tempted to pick up some sticks. Teen girls will be entertained by the coming-of-age-while-crafting adventures of this colorful quartet of friends. The book includes four knitting patterns.

School Library Journal

Gr 7–10
Scottie, Tay, Amanda, and Bella are reunited in this second installment in the series. Scottie, wearing her frumpy lilac sweatpants, runs into a gorgeous hunk in her apartment building. She and Beck begin dating, and the world of the chicks is never the same. As Scottie watches Tay and Amanda struggle with their relationships, she wonders how to balance her friends and Beck-and how much a part of his life she really is. (Bella has sworn off men, for the time being.) As they knit their way through their problems, the teens deal with loyalty to friends when a new boy enters the picture. While each of the four girls is a "type," the deftly explored issues mirror what adolescents have been experiencing for decades. This book deals more with the emotional side of relationships than with the physical, and, although the ending is convenient, the feelings are real. For "crafty" readers or those who enjoy serial teen drama, this is a good choice.
—Lynn EvartsCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.