Roller Girl

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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 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. Astrid's mother takes her and her best friend, Nicole, on numerous "Evenings of Cultural Enrichment" which often confuse, bore, or inappropriately amuse the two girls; one night in fifth grade, they attend a roller derby match between the Oregon City Rollergirls and the Rose City Rollers. Astrid asks her mother's permission to attend the Rollers' Junior Roller Derby Camp that summer, assuming that Nicole will also join with her. Instead, Nicole chooses to attend dance camp with Astrid's longtime rival Rachel. Nearby, FBI agents chase teen assassin Malcolm as he rushes to complete his secret mission for a radical pro-dragon group called the Believers. Nothing sways Malcolm’s devotion to leader Mitera Thea and his probably suicidal mission until his path crosses Nelson’s (who has been thrown out by his mother). Against his training, Malcolm envelops Nelson into the folds of his dangerous world. Yet his ghastly tasks threaten their blossoming relationship. This book followed Astrid, 12, as she and her best friend Nicole went to see Roller Derby with Astrid's mom. Astrid became obsessed with being a Roller Girl. The next day, she and Nicole went skating, except, Astrid didn't know how to skate. That wasn't the bad news because Nicole had other plans for her summer camp and it's not Roller Derby. Astrid was left on her own to do something she's not good at.

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. My lastest graphic novel (April 2020) is co-written with Omar Mohamed. This book tells the story of Omar's childhood spent in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Omar and his younger brother Hassan fled their homeland of Somalia when civil war broke out, and spent the next 18 years in Dadaab. I was pumped to read this middle-grade graphic novel all about recognizing female empowerment within the roller derby community, especially after having read and loved Pamela Ribon's SLAM! Vol. 1, which is a YA comic bundle set around the same premise. I also have to give a big applause to the main character's mom. Who was wonderful, who tried her best to care for her daughter, to be there for her. And she gave her some great advice when everything went wrong. Seriously, she is one super mom!

At the beginning of the story, it is abundantly clear that Nicole and Astrid are inseparable. They are the closest of friends of the sort that you have in elementary school. Nicole has tagged along with Astrid on Astrid's mom's evening of cultural enlightenment when it meant going to the opera or a modern art exhibit. The roller derby is exotic and quite different, but Nicole's reaction is not quite the same as Astrid's. But she was also really interesting and it was quite realistic to see her change. From not knowing what to do, to be unsure about herself, to rising up and coming out a stronger version of herself. This fast-paced story, told in alternating viewpoint, takes you on a wild journey that includes an alternate universe. Cleverly crafted text amplifies the suspense, allowing for successful verbal sleight of hand. Burn wraps up dramatically, while leaving room to expand into a series. I couldn’t put this book down and look forward to the tale’s continuation in whatever world(s) where I hope to meet more wonderful—and wonderfully awful—dragons.

I do have to note that, personally, the story hit a bit of rut when it focused too heavily on supplying all the technical terms in roller derby, but thankfully it more than made up for that with its following character-defining moments. Pamela Ribon is a screenwriter (Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Bears), performer, TV writer, comic book writer, best-selling novelist, and a Film Independent Directing Lab Fellow. This was an eye-opener for me especially with regard to the roller derby sport. I didn’t even understand what it was or how it worked before reading this. I’m still not a fan of the sport and I honestly don’t get the point, but I liked that Astrid was able to work at it consistently and eventually find success and community doing it. It also definitely improved her self-esteem overall. 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. A refreshing, witty story of trying, failing, reinvention, ambition, team spirit and how to be a decent friend GuardianI liked this Newbery Honor a lot. Beverly (in the discussion in Children's Books group) explains very well why it's so good. As far as the entitlement attitude, well, that's the theme of the book, as one of the things Astrid has to learn and deal with is that friends can grow apart.