Roller Girl

Title: Roller Girl
Author/Illustrator: Victoria Jamieson
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Awards: Newbery Honor Book (2016)
Grade Level: 4 - 6

After watching a Rose City Rollers roller derby match, twelve-year-old Astrid Vasquez became interested and signed up for junior roller derby summer camp. She felt betrayed when her best friend Nicole decided to go to the dance camp instead, which happened to be with her long-time nemesis Rachel. At the roller derby camp, she befriended Zoey who helped make her experience a bit better. On top of dealing with friendship problems and worrying about entering junior high, Astrid soon found out that she was not very good at roller skating. There was going to be a mini-bout soon and she really wanted to have the jammer position so practiced extra hours in hopes of improving. While her skills did improve, it was still not sufficient enough. When Zoey got the jammer position instead of Astrid, Astrid incidentally hurts their relationship by not being very supportive. Realizing that she was not a very good friend, she tried to repair her relationship with Nicole and Zoey. She chose Asteroid as her derby name. At the final jam of the big game, she was able to help Zoey get the winning points even though she failed to knock out the opponent. Astrid learns to accept that life was going to be complex and change so she should move on and be more open to her new friends. This graphic novel has universal themes about friendship, identity, and growing up. It also shows that hard work can be rewarded in different ways than expected. Readers unfamiliar with the roller derby sport can learn about the basic rules and training process and become interested. The illustrations are colorful and would sometimes show Astrid's inner thoughts. The book may be more targeted for girls but boys may find the sport interesting so it would be a fun read for both groups. 

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