An Egg on Three Sticks

by Jackie Moyer Fischer

Finally Abby is thirteen. A real teenager who only wants to pierce her ears, have a boyfriend, and run her own life. But when her mother suffers a nervous breakdown, Abby faces a life far different from what she hoped for. Set in the Bay Area in the '70s, An Egg on Three Sticks is Jackie Moyer Fischer's emotional, funny, and extraordinarily heartfelt novel about Abby's struggle to hold her family together, find love from a mother who has little to give, and simply try to be thirteen.

With a voice completely fresh and honest, Abby takes us on a journey that is often hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, and overwhelmingly hopeful. But a journey no thirteen-year-old should have to take.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mental Illness, Mental Health, Coming Of Age, Book Club

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Jackie Moyer Fischer grew up in Saratoga, California, and McMinnville, Oregon. She graduated from Oregon State University (English) and Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law (J.D). She now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and too many cats. She has made peace with the rain and now prefers it to sunshine.

Reviews

[Nifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is written with a teenager as a narrator, and it's not like an adult pretending to be a teenager or anything like that. She really talks pretty much like you would expect a teenager to talk. And that is especially useful because it allows her to express, in words that only a teenager in the 70's would, her anger, frustration, fear and sadness at her mother's mental illness. I think that if you have anyone in your family suffering from mental illness or just old-fashioned depression, you will absoultely relate to this. I loved this book.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attention all aspiring YA fiction writers: this is what I measure you against. An honest, straightforward look at the experiences of a young woman at the center of a family in crisis, which moves inexorably toward its conclusion without sugar coating the tragedy or the main character's feelings. You may not understand or approve of all the protagonist's choices, but hopefully you'll appreciate her creator's forthrightness and skill.

[Diana Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this but wow, was I pleasantly surprised. What a wonderful reading experience this was for me. Abby is one of my new favorite YA female characters. Her voice is so real that I experienced everything she was going through. My favorite line from her was when she said, "I am really starting to hate my mom. I don't care what else is going on. You don't fuck with Christmas." I was like, yes. Yes, Abby. I fell in love with her right then because imagine as a child that you are ready for Christmas and it's time to open presents and your mom is acting strange. Then she ruins Christmas and your left sitting there in the aftermath like wtf just happened. No one explains anything to you and no one even tries to help you understand it. You just know that mom ruined Christmas. And now her mother is severely depressed and just barely making it through the day and Abby and her sister are just there. I love that this is set in the 70's. I love the sense of relief Abby feels at the end of the book because it's so honest. It's exactly how I think I would feel at the end of all of this. The end of the book is so heart breaking and so beautiful that I just read it over and over until I had enough. I will definitely read this again one day when it won't be so raw for me. When your mother mentally checks out, what happens to the family? This is one family's story and I am glad I was a part of it.

[Lala1233 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book today. I loved this book so much and im sad that it is over!! I am not a big reader but I read this book and could not put it down!!
I think the title "an egg on 3 sticks" has something to do with the mom being the egg and 3 sticks would be abby, her sister, and her dad trying to balance their mom without dropping her but im not sure.
I think this was the best book ive ever read so far and wish there were more books by this author!

[ML Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressing, sad, confusing, annoying….. I didn’t care for this book. One chapter was only one sentence long. Meh.

[AJ LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I read from start to finish in one sitting because I needed to know how it ended.

Going in, I knew things would not be pretty. It's the 70s, and we didn't deal well with mental illness then - especially for women.

The best part of the book is that it's told from Abby's point of view. She's dealing with all of the normal highs and lows of adolescence, but her mom is sent away to a mental hospital in the midst of this.

It's almost claustrophobic having to see everything through Abby's lens. On one hand you understand why she does what she does. On the other, you can see what's going to happen and wish that there was a responsible adult around who could step in and fix things. Then again, the responsible adults in the book don't seem to get it either.

I thought the voice in this book was incredibly strong and it felt like these characters were real.

[Pat Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel about a young female teen and her experiences/problems in her life. A certain amount of coming of age here. The theme that is always there though, is her mother, and her mother's problems and its affect on the young girl. I enjoyed reading this. There is a flavor to the writing and style which gives the main character something more than an obvious personality. Like a lot of novels I read, there is a conflict which remains unsolved. I mean that the conflict doesn't come to a happy ending. The book comes to a conclusion, but the conflict between the teen and her mother never gets any progress in the book. It starts to progress in the teen's mind, but not in time. I found that unsettling. That doesn't mean I don't recommend the book. I think any thoughtful reader with an open mind could read this and get something from it. I did. If you are someone who needs a happy ending or a happy story for that matter, then you might not like this book. Knowing what I know after having read it, but if I hadn't actually read this, I would read it, if that makes sense. :)

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very well written. In that aspect, I would give it four-five stars. I just thought the story was a bit of a bummer. It's not that all stories have to be unrealistically uplifting; maybe it just wasn't the right time for me to read this book! It's about a young teenage girl suffering the consequences of the impact her mother's mental illness has on her. The perspective of the breakdown in her family told through her eyes is very well done.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book randomly and had no idea what it was going to be about.

It took a couple of chapters for me to get into it. Then I couldn't stop. It ended up being one of the most stunning, emotional books I've ever read. I loved the main character and her family and I wanted so badly to give them all a hug. When I finished the book, all I could do was sit there for a moment and think, "Wow."

I'm glad I took a chance on a random book.

[Dixie Meeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. Told from the voice of a thirteen-year-old in short chapters with stunningly simple description of the breakdown of a family, the rebuild, and the breakdown, once again. The narrator's voice is both that of a child and adult, and even ifyou've never been through what she's been through, you can feel it like it's happening to you. Excellent book.

[Heather B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book strangely hard to put down. It's written in the voice of an adolescent girl struggling to make sense of her mother's emotional breakdown. It's quite poignant at times, and I found myself really caring about Abby, and hoping her mom would wake up and realize what she was missing. She doesn't. The end was depressing, but strangely a relief to me.

[Adaire Kamen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was depressing and dismal almost through the entire book. It was hard to finish because as I remember describing to my mom: "Its like a deep hole of darkness. Nothing good is happening." At the end of the book, i didn't fell I learned anything or that there was any significant from the pages of dark depressingness.

[Danely Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really really enjoyed this book name An Egg on Three Sticks by jackie moyer fisher.What can I say once I started reading this book I couldn't stop.This book got me addicted to reading it because the more you read it you could not stop at all.This book is very descriptive it made me feel like if I was in that spot of her's.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because it took place in the bay area and during a time when I was about the same age as the main charater. I felt that as sad as the issue of the book was, it was well written -- for those in this situation or not.

[LeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written in the perspective and style (very unusual!) of a preteen girl. There is this amazing balance between being incredibly intense yet very lighthearted... So goes the life of an adolescent girl!

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting because I had to know how it ended. This is another story about an adolescent and her relationship with her mother. Not a happy one, but an engaging, compelling read.

[Baylee Elizabeth]

dude this book is AMAZING!
#1 best book ihave ever read..
every girl on earth should read this book!!!

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Abby, but the book was kind of depressing. It was very well written though.

[Farah Mahovac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jaje na tri štapića

Roman o tinedjzerki Ebi kojoj majka doživljava nervni slom a ona pokušava da se nosi s tim, iako ona sanja o nekim skroz drugim željama.

-Hoću da kažem da to što je neko sve vreme nasmejan ne znači da je i srećan.
-Liza može da se promjeni dok trepnete okom. To joj ne znači ništa. I uvek se okrene kako vjetar duva.

Strah i problemi.Trudoca.Prijateljice.Simpatija.Smrt majke.

Kraj: Ili da će za ova planeta okretati čak i ako samo budete ležali u krevetu i gledali u plafon. Sve će ići svojim tokom a život će vam se promijeniti bez obzira na to što ne radite ništa ili da ne možete da spasite nekoga ko ne želi da bude spašen.
Sve to znam u 15 godini tako da se zapitam šta će da bude kad napunim 40.
Hoću da kažem da ne vjerujem da postoji nešto što još može da se sazna. ❤

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A SERIOUS YA BOOK ABOUT MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE: An Egg on Three Sticks by Jackie Moyer Fischer. The cover of this edition shows the back of a girl with long dark hair wearing a white tank top and jean cut-offs standing before a blown-up image of a pink floral wallpaper—Wallpaper—“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the 1892 short story about ‘the woman in the wallpaper’ who the female ‘narrator’ believes is communicating with her, telling her to escape her husband John, who is keeping her locked in a bedroom for the good of her mental health. Did Gilman’s famous story influence the cover design of An Egg on Three Sticks?

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m honestly not sure how to review this. I feel a bit taken aback at how deeply tragic this story is, given the relatively light description on the back. Suffice it to say, without many spoilers, that this book deals with depression and some very heavy life events. It is in no way a happy book. The teenage protagonist’s voice is very strong and distinctive. I kept reading mostly because I wanted to know the resolution - it made sense as an ending, but didn’t make the story any easier.

Three stars because I think it was fairly well written but I just...didn’t really enjoy it?

[Dana Chudy watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a treasure which stays with the reader long after the last page is turned. It's style of language is fresh yet nostalgic . A beautiful story of friendship, secrets, mental illness within a home and how it's navigated and somehow the humor that goes along in strides. It could possibly be your own story too as it's realism unfolds leaving you wanting more from this author and her voices within the characters. I would recommend this for all ages. Read to find out why the title is what it is.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't really getting into this story at first. Having a 12-year-old as the narrator makes for some interesting (read annoying) dialogue. About halfway through though, I must have gotten used to it and at that point didn't even think of not finishing it. It turned out to be a very good book and I would definitely recommend it. Even though it's a sad story, there are lots of parts that will make you laugh. Just enough so that it keeps you from getting completely depressed by it all.

[Shea Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I am not lying made me cry at the end, in this novel Jackie Moyer Fischer brings us through the life of a girl aging through her teenage years. Her mom goes kind of crazy and it just goes down in her life from there. I very much think you should read this book and actually read it not just glance through it because it is truly amazing!

[Wiebke Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book quite compelling, as it covers depression through the eyes of a teenager who has to come to terms with her mother changing. In addition, there is also an underlying tension around race that is never quite resolved as it should not in the 1970s. However, the ending is possibly just a little convenient in spite of being quite horrible.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to experience 13 again, here's how. Wonderfully written! Brings back the angst, wonder, and delights & challenges of life.

[Maggie Falk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time when I was 12 years old. It meant so much to me then and rereading it now at almost 30 it means just as much. This is a story that sticks with you for a lifetime.

[Jennefer Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young novel....but so much truth to relate to!!!

[Alisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every teenager always want to get older either because they want to have a boyfriend,party,or just to leave the house already.


In this book an egg on three sticks Abby is a teenage girl that already wants to pierce her ears,have a boyfriend,and run her own life.
Abby has her best friend her name is Poppy Cardesi Abby thinks shes perfect because she has straight long brown hair not like abby that is orange and short and that she can trust and tell her everything,anything one day while getting out of school Abby ask Poppy her best friend if her mom has ever break something and Poppy told her that always but than Abby told her if her mom has break anything but two things in one day Poppy answer no that will be crazy.
Abby didn't want to tell her best friend that her mom broke two bathroom mirrows in one day.She knew already what Poppy was going say.
When she got home she wanted her dad to see how her mom broke two bathroom mirrows in one day.Abbys dad went in the bathroom and and Abby was hoping for him to tell her mom something about it when he got out he didn't say anything he just went there to wash his hands and came out to eat.She wanted to know why her mom was going to break two mirrows in one day.Abby dad ask her mom what had happen with the bathroom mirrow,Abby was happy that she was finally going to know why her mom did that.But her mom only sai it was an accident.Her mom usually takes pills either when she needs to relax or shes having a hard time to focus on something.When her mom and dad left her house because they needed to get some food,Abby couldn't hold it and went to check out what her mom was talking if those pills made her break the two mirrows.When she open all the medicine that were behing the mirrow she saw one that said take one if needed.There were 28 pills but in the bottle there only thrre she got them out and she hold them in her hands.As she saw the brigth rd pills in her hand she took one and put it in her mouth she couldn't take it out it was already in her stomach and she just went to her bedroom and lay down and feel asleep.When her dad came he woke her up telling her that her mom was in the hospital because she didn't feel good and she had to go.It was February and Abby's mom was still the since January,they were alone eating,but no one talk.

I read ths book because just like me i want to have a boyfriend and leave the house but i don't think what can happen next i wanted to know how it will be if my mom wasn't going to be there for me anymore.

Abby thought if her mom wouldn't be there everything was going to be perfect but once her mom left she saw how her real life was.

In her house there was only her dad,sister and her no one els she was feeling lonly since her mom wasn't there anymore she didn't talk to her dad and neither did he.

Abby saw how there was no way that her mom was comming back and she started talking to her dad more and more and so did her sister she started making dinner just like her mom and she started helping her dad and her sister even though she was only 13 years old.

I learn that everything is not how you always expect to be and that you need to aprreciate people more because you never know when they might be leaving you.

This book was really interesting because at first I expected that her mom was probably come back but she didn't and how Abby started blending more with her dad and sister.

Every teenager because they need to know that life goes step b y step don't hurry up because you need to live your'e life how it goes.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everyone complains. Every pre-teen and teenager complains. And everyone has that time now and then where they complain, and then they realize things were not that bad before. But now cannot go back.

In An Egg On Three Sticks is centered around Abby and her family who is dealing with the ups and downs of having a mother with a metal illness. Abby who is telling the story has many complaints about her mother in the beginning of the novel. She believes her mother to be too over bearing, too strict and “uncool”. She even envies her best friend’s mother for being the total opposite of her own. But as the book moves on and her mother’s metal illness starts to really impact her parenting in a negative way. She starts to break all the old rules, wanting, hoping to be yelled at, but her crimes go unnoticed with her new disconnected mother. Abby just wants so badly to have her old mother back.

Abby who the novel follows from ages 12 to 15 really learns a strong message about being grateful. As the reader you really see how ungrateful Abby is in the novel, and how much she regrets ther actions in the end. I think this book would be attractive book for a school setting because the lessons learned have another lyer to them since they are diccated in the book in a unwuic way. You learn from what the character doesn’t do, rather than does do. This novel also shines some light on the personal side of metal illiness and really gives a reader with no prior knowledge on this topic a feeling of a personal connection this issues by the end of the book. Also this book can start interesting discussions about metal illness and its effects on families. That is one piece of praise I have to the book, is it captures this lesson very well.

Being someone who enjoys family fiction involving teens, this book was perfect for me. Although one as the book moved on I disliked was the style of narrative. Abby is telling the story like she thinks, so the author has you using some immature word choices. For example Abby likes to add “mundo” to the end of adjectives. Although not really impacting the understanding of the storyline, I did feel that the writing choices distracted from the storyline at times.