Damn, but this book is badass. I mean, honestly, what’s not to love about a middle-grade graphic novel about a twelve-year-old girl who decides that what she wants out of her life is to become a roller derby champion? Nothing, that’s what.
At the beginning of Roller Girl, Astrid is in a position that a lot of us probably remember from our youths. She’s best friends with another girl her age, they do everything together, and that’s just a given, that’s just the way it works. But then one summer their paths diverge, and suddenly Astrid has to figure out how to be herself, all on her own. And, as is fairly typical, the figuring out process involves lots of bumps and bruises and falling down, but in Astrid’s case, all of that is literal as well as metaphorical, because she’s doing it at roller derby camp.
One of my favorite things about this book is that Astrid is by no means a natural born derby champ. In fact, she pretty much sucks. But she works so hard and sticks with it despite everything because she just really, really likes it. It takes some serious guts to keep doing something you’re terrible at just because you want to, and I love Astrid for it. Trust me, you will too.
Oh, and PS. In case you were in any doubt, this book is about roller derby, so obviously it’s super gay.
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