The most entertaining and authentic depiction of modern adolescence sports. ( )

I always loved watching roller derby on TV when I was growing up and loved the movie "Whip It" with Ellen Paige. The author, who is a skater with the Rose City rollers Roller Derby League presents us with a great graphic novel that not only provides details about the "how" of skating, but about gaining self-confidence and navigating the issues of growing up. ( )

The Story follows the adventure of a girl who discovers roller derby as her best friend and her grow apart. The story talks about coming of age and finding interests that might affect the friendships we held. The story is all about the friends we can make or keep along with the experience of growing up and trying new things eventually finding who we want to be.

Growing up is hard. As girls age, they find different likes, and can start to stray from long held friendships. In Roller Girl, Astrid falls in love with Roller Derby. It is so geeky, but edgy at the same time. Her friend, however, is more into dance. Their friendship starts to splinter as Astrid pulls more to Roller Derby. She is not very good and does a lot of falling but she is learning to get up on her own feet and to find the courage to go forth without her best friend. It also means she learns to make new friends, and in the long run how to be a better friend overall. This book was a Newberry honor book and it deserves that honor. It is a timeless tale of friendship and growing up. It shows that growing up, and growing apart is not always a bad thing, but sometimes what is needed to broaden horizons, try new things, and become the person on the outside you feel on the inside. ( )

Delightful. Really enjoyed this. ( )

This was such a great story. I felt everything Astrid did, and I loved watching her grow and learn and come into her own through roller derby. I don't have much experience with graphic novels, but I decided to branch out this year and try new things. I'm glad I did. I look forward to reading more about Astrid in the next comics in the series. ( )

4.5 stars

This was a great recommendation from the same friend who recommended [b:Amelia Rules! Volume 1: The Whole World's Crazy|476504|Amelia Rules! Volume 1 The Whole World's Crazy (Amelia Rules! #1)|Jimmy Gownley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387666645s/476504.jpg|2094973] to me, one of my favorite kids' comic series. Astrid's voice was honest and relatable, and it was nice watching her grow up a little, coming to realizations about herself and her friends. It was refreshing that the whole thing didn't wrap up perfectly for her, but that she was still OK. I wasn't happy that she decided to completely call it quits with Nicole, who actually seemed like a pretty nice friend. I didn't get why Astrid needed to choose between past friends and new friends, but the flowers left on the bleachers seemed a clear indication that she was done with Nicole. I didn't love the message that they were too different to be friends anymore, that Astrid was choosing to stay with her own kind or something. I can see it from another angle too, that Astrid just needed to let go of some things, and Nicole was unfortunately part of that. Learning a little about roller derby was fun too.
As I've seen mentioned in another review and in the Goodreads description, this is a good choice for people who like [a:Raina Telgemeier|21618|Raina Telgemeier|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1200153437p2/21618.jpg] and [a:Jimmy Gownley|266508|Jimmy Gownley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1386283306p2/266508.jpg]. ( )

Obsessed with this juvenile graphic novel; the reader gets to discover the world of roller derby through the enchanted eyes of our angsty, earnest twelve year old protagonist, Astrid. Contains a worthwhile plot about navigating friendships and growing apart while developing a sense of self. ( )

I'll be recommending this one to fans of [a:Raina Telgemeier|21618|Raina Telgemeier|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1200153437p2/21618.jpg], as the artwork and characters are similar to those in Telgemeier's work. ( )

This was super fun to read, as a newcomer to the derby world. I keep telling people, I missed out on queer-leaning YA books as a kid, so I'm making up for lost time. This book is filled with good derby lessons, and good life lessons, and was quick and entertaining, realistic, and felt meaningful. ( )

A strong pick for kids heading into middle school -- all about derby, of course, but also all about navigating new interests and friendship implosions and figuring out how to be yourself. Great story, great images! ( )

What a fun adventure with Astrid trying something new and going through the summer while confused about her relationship with her best friend. Enjoyable from beginning to end and would be really fun in a book club to talk about a lot of different issues! ( )

great middle school summer transition story, finding your thong, making new friends, etc. will inspire any lady of any age to seek out roller derby. ( )

children's/tween graphic novel (problems fitting in/starting middle school, falling out with friends, telling lies and being able to talk to your mom, who is incidentally a single parent)--Newbery Honor winner. This just about made me cry, several times. Sweet story that resonates with kids' experiences, great writing and illustrations. ( )

I love this so hard. Not only did I learn tons about roller derby, I found Astrid's friendship woes very authentic for that time in childhood. I love how everyone takes some blame and how the story ends. I hope this gets huge--it deserves to be huge. Fans of Raina Telgemeier will love this to pieces.

Also, I wish I had roller derby when I was a kid. ( )

There still unfortunately aren’t that many books/movies with female athletes at the heart of them, certainly not in comparison to all the underdog male sports stories out there so that along with the sport itself, Roller Derby, made this a refreshing read.

This isn’t entirely sporty though if that isn’t your thing, the story beyond the roller rink is emotionally engaging, too. Astrid does some things behind her mother’s back over the course of the novel and I really liked how the fallout is handled, the conversation afterwards. The friendships were also so well conveyed, heartwarming and bittersweet, achingly true to life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this with its depth of story and lively, expressive illustrations. ( )

This graphic novel is so cute! Written and set in Portland, this story promotes individuality. This graphic novel empowers young girls to follow their passions despite what others may say. Be who you are and be true to yourself! Loved it and bought a copy for a young family member. Excited to give it to her. ( )

This is a book that uses female empowerment. We follow Astrid as she goes to roller derby camp and she is not the best at skating. We watch as she pushes through the hard things and is determined because it is something that she loves. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/br_V-Fn1KXI

Enjoy! ( )

Jamieson has a gift for telling the story of the tween years, of figuring out who you are and your place in the world... and acknowledging that relationships and you change as well. After Astrid becomes obsessed with roller derby, she convinces her mom to sign her up for derby camp, assuming her best friend would join her -- only she's going to dance camp instead. Cue the betrayal, the anger, the tweenage angst.

Astrid is not a completely likeable character. She's in fact a bit of a brat. Meaning, she's a normal tween girl. It was annoying at times, but I also appreciated that Jamieson was true to who her character was. ( )

Sweet and inspiring story of a girl starting junior roller derby. Loved seeing the Rose City Rollers as the featured team! ( )

3.5 stars
#OWLsreadathon2019 Defense Against the Dark Arts - Reducto: title starts with an R. More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk-wc72whn4 ( )

What a fantastic coming of age novel! Astrid and Nicole have been best friends for a long time, and for the first time in their lives they aren't spending their Summer together. They are used to doing everything together, so Astrid assumes Sarah will want to go to roller derby camp with her. When Nicole decides she wants to work on her ballet, Astrid feels rejected. This is a great novel for older elementary and middle schoolers who are experiencing change, and learning how to cope with change that they may not fully understand. Astrid learns what it means to be a team player, that people can change, and that life is not as black and white as she thought. I would love to use this graphic novel in a learning unit with elementary and middle school students. ( )

So great! This is a really nice example of a great graphic novel that is also great character-driven realistic fiction. It's perfect for Telgemeier fans, and I suspect it will be very popular for a long time. I love fiction that acknowledges and explores difficult or evolving friendships. I also learned a lot about roller derby. ( )