By Victoria Jamieson
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2015. 239 pages. Young Adult Graphic Novel
Twelve-year-old Astrid goes to a Roller Derby tournament with her mom and best friend Nicole, and her life is changed forever. Astrid begs to join a roller derby summer camp, but when Nicole says she'd rather not come along Astrid isn't sure what this will mean for their friendship. As she trains at the camp, she has to come to terms with mistakes she has made and learn how to be a better friend, a better daughter, and a better teammate.
This is an excellent graphic novel for pre-teens and younger teens. There are a lot of positive themes around these girls, who are proud of who they are and how hard they work, as well as the heartening lessons Astrid must learn. I think there are great messages in this book and I enjoyed it immensely.
BHG
2 comments:
Roller Girl revolves around Astrid’s discovery of roller derby, and when her best friend doesn’t share her enthusiasm, she starts questioning their friendship. She must learn that friends (including best friends) change, and as hard and scary as that can be, it’s okay. People’s interests change, people make new friends, and all of that is okay. The messages and themes throughout this story are empowering and inspiring. Roller Girl was a joy to read and left me smiling. It’s an easy recommendation from me, and I would especially love to hand a copy to any young teen.
I highly recommend this book for teenage girls! I gave this book to my 12 year old daughter and we took turns borrowing it from each other to read. She is in 7th grade this year and could relate to Astrid because she has also started to drift away from the friends she has had all through elementary school. She is discovering that their interests are changing and she is having to struggle with the reality of finding new friends. This book provided a way for us to talk about these struggles through the characters in the book and normalize a confusing time of life. This book also really, really made me want to do roller derby!
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