Roller Girl

Product Information

ROLLER GIRL follows the story of Astrid as she navigates the hard-hitting worlds of junior roller derby and middle school friendships. It's based on my own struggles fitting in in middle school- as well as the home I found while playing roller derby as an adult. Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl captivated me right off and only grew sweeter on a second reading. In addition to the immersive power of graphic novels, the story of Roller Girl delivers a solid punch: 12-year-old Astrid Vasquez gets hooked on roller derby and devotes herself to the sport while navigating the ups and downs of middle-school friendships. I love coming-of-age stories and in Roller Girl, we get everything from realistic confrontations with parents to what it feels like to be the worst at something you so desperately want to conquer. I also learned a lot about roller derby and feel like I got bruises from just reading about it – ouch!

Y ese es el mensaje principal de este libro, ver como una niña se esfuerza para cumplir su meta de jugar en el Roller Derby, nos muestran sus caídas y golpes, y al final nos enseña, que quizá lo que creíamos querer no era lo que realmente necesitamos. A picture book starring Boomer, an unathletic pig. Boomer has been training his entire life for one moment: the chance to win gold at the Animal Olympics. Here are some of my favorite roller derby player names from this excellent girl-empowerment book that will be enjoyable to young people and adults alike, and that you should all go out and buy for your daughters/granddaughters/nieces etc. and read with them immediately! - In that beautiful Graphic novel, "Astrid" was extremely dazzled by Roller Derby-a sport that I just knew about it in this book-when her mother takes her to watch that game. Being inherited her fierce mom's genes, she excitedly decides to start practicing this tough game.Finding other skaters proves harder than expected; the girls they’re asking can’t even skate. Shelly wants to recruit Bree, Kenzie’s skateboarding neighbor, but Kenzie struggles with her complicated secret-crush feelings toward Bree. Then, as the team comes together, Kenzie worries when Shelly welcomes new members and seemingly replaces Kenzie. Twelve-year-old Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole. So when Astrid signs up for roller derby camp, she assumes Nicole will too. But Nicole signs up for dance camp with a new friend instead, and so begins the toughest summer of Astrid's life. There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is without Nicole...and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl. I have always been interested in Roller Derby, it seems like an epic sport (though also painful) and thus I just had to try this book out. A book about a girl who is finding herself, and finding a place in Roller Derby. I was all smiles reading the many descriptions and was even pleasantly surprised to see my name, Natalie, included... until I read her silly defining characteristic.

Roller Girl wasn't the first graphic novel to win a Newbery Honor—that was Cece Bell's El Deafo in 2015—but it duplicated the feat only a year later. Victoria Jamieson had illustrated for other authors and done a few picture books of her own, but Roller Girl put her squarely on the map in children's literature. She had become one of the best at appealing to reluctant readers with her spunk and colorful sense of style. Despite her pleadings, Astrid is unable to convince Nicole to attend roller derby camp with her. Instead, Nicole attends dance camp and this creates a severe severance in their friendship once Nicole begins hanging around with a girl named Rachel. Rachel takes great delight in bullying Astrid and manages to get inside Nicole's head and effectively turn her against Astrid.I so want to hang out with Astrid and Zoey now. Sure, they are fictional and 12 and I'm almost 50 but cmon! It won't be weird! Jamieson captures this snapshot of preteen angst with a keenly decisive eye, brilliantly juxtaposing the nuances of roller derby with the twists and turns of adolescent girls' friendships...Full of charm and moxie—don't let this one roll past." — Kiruks,starred review

Also, the story realistically dealt with how relationships like friendships are formed and broken, and how Astrid was gradually learning how she makes up for her mistakes.A wonderful story about friendship, self-belief and SERIOUSLY awesome girls! Robin Stevens, bestselling author of Murder Most Unladylike This spiky, winning graphic novel captures the bittersweetness of finding a new passion and saying goodbye to your former, more uncertain self. The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo So the stage is set for the shift so many girls - and maybe boys, though I don't know how this particular piece of boy's life works - experience in their transition from elementary school to junior high/middle school: Losing the best friend while moving out of childhood and into teenagehood, trying to find out who they want to be. This book was recommended to me by a fellow bookstagrammer. I gave it to my 8 years old and he loved it so much that he read it 3 times! It's no wonder because I absolutely loved this book! I read it in one sitting from 10:30pm to 2:30am! The story was on roller derby and I knew nothing about it so it was fascinating to learn. Astrid's skating skills was terrible and every time she fell, it reminded me of how I fell when I first learned to skate. I loved the message this book was teaching young readers: "If you want something badly enough, you just have to work harder than everyone else to get it." This story also taught readers to let the spotlight shine on someone else and it was absolutely a lesson my son needed.

That is AWESOME! It is wonderful to see that just because you want it, just because you work your butt off for it, just because you think you deserve it...that doesn't mean you'll get it. You'll get a lot of other stuff along the way, though - Astrid does reap rewards - and hopefully you'll learn to appreciate the journey more than the goal. So close does Astrid start to become with Zoey that she even allows her new friend to dye her hair blue. Like Astrid, Zoey is fully into the idea of becoming a competitive skater and practices just as intensely. Eventually, this cooperative effort becomes a competition for the position of jammer. When Zoey is named jammer over Astrid, Astrid again erupts in angry frustration and makes a scene. Zoey refuses to talk to her afterward. But this is not, of course, just about derby. It's about friendship, about growing away from old friends and towards new ones. Astrid's best friend isn't interested in roller derby. She wants to go to ballet camp. And it's part of Astrid's journey in this book to realize that she and Nicole don't need to be attached at the hip. They can be different people. Maybe they won't be friends the way they once were, but that doesn't mean they have to be enemies, either. The other part of this story is Astrid’s family and her friendship with Nicole. Nicole makes another friend at ballet who is irrationally mean to Astrid and influences Nicole to an extent, but I’m all for more mature friendships in middle grade books, where friends can resolve differences and make amends — even if things never return exactly to the way they were — and Nicole and Astrid make the effort. Overall: Roller Girl This spiky, winning graphic novel captures the bittersweetness of finding a new passion and saying goodbye to your former, more uncertain self New York Times

Customer reviews

At camp, Astrid wonders if she can still be friends with Nicole; she later makes friends with Zoey, a fellow camp contender, but struggles with her skating skills and jealousy over making the team. When seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh isn’t struggling with OCD, she wants nothing more than to ascend from witchling to full witch. Dayna has strong familial bonds with her coven yet her biological family is disjointed: a religious father and a mother who was mysteriously sent away thirteen years ago to Camp Blood of the Lamb. Mix in witches from another coven plus a nearby serial killer and you’ll get an idea of this fantastic brew of a book. This spiky, winning graphic novel captures the bittersweetness of finding a new passion and saying goodbye to your former, more uncertain self