1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jamieson, Victoria. Roller Girl. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2015. ISBN 9780803740167
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Astrid's mother takes her and her best friend Nicole to see a roller derby bout. Astrid is excited about the athleticism, the attitude, and the creativity of the sport, but her friend Nicole, does not share her enthusiasm, and they have a falling out. Astrid spends the summer in roller derby camp learning the basics of the sport while also learning more important lessons about friendship and how to be a team player.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Like most tweens, when 12-year-old Astrid's mother takes her and her best friend Nicole out for "an evening of cultural enlightenment" full of "strong, positive female role models," Astrid is afraid she's in for another long night of poetry reading or opera, but instead, her mother takes the girls to roller derby, and a passion in Astrid's heart awakens. She just knows she has to play roller derby, so she signs up for a summer camp. Much to her dismay, Nicole does not share her interest and it drives a large wedge in their relationship. Nicole befriends a girl named Rachel, whose very existence makes Astrid green with jealousy. Her feelings toward Nicole turn even uglier when Rachel begins to bully Astrid.
On the rink, Astrid realizes she has a lot to learn. She's a terrible skater. She doesn't have a lot of balance, coordination, or endurance. But she is compelled to continue, particularly when she seeks out the guidance of a professional player named Rainbow Bite. Rainbow Bite becomes her mentor and the two communicate through notes left in Rainbow Bite's locker. In addition, Astrid feels not quite so alone when she befriends another novice player, Zoey. The two of them train together and even color Astrid's hair blue (much to her mother's dismay).
By the end of the summer, Astrid realizes she's made progress as a player, but that it may or may not be enough to start as the "jammer" in the last bout of the summer. Children, particularly tweens, will identify with Astrid's difficulty managing relationships with her peers while she struggles with a sport that requires her dedication and patience as well as learning to be a supportive member of a team.
Jamieson does a wonderful job developing Astrid's psyche. Readers can identify with the anxious feelings that go along with trying to make your own way in the world. Specifically, Astrid struggles with lying to her mother, creative expression, hard work, physical and athletic development, emotional regulation, friendship building, feeling sorry for herself, a desire to be independent, dealing with bullies, and coping with the asynchronous development in regard to sexual maturity when Nicole and Rachel are clearly becoming more interested in spending time with boys, when Astrid is not. Any of those issues are difficult for a child, but Jamieson does a great job laying out all of the struggles over the duration of Astrid's summer camp experience, without the drama feeling like it is unnecessarily weighing the book down.
Astrid's humanity makes her an approachable character for everyone, even boys, or so says my 11-year-old son, who chose this as his favorite book of the year, and wrote a five paragraph essay about the themes of friendship and self-reliance for his language arts class.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) and AWARDS
Newbery Medal Honor Book
Publishers Weekly Best Book
School Library Journal Best Book
Kirkus Reviews Best Book
Chicago Public Library Best Book
New York Public Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing
Texas Bluebonnet Book Winner
An ALA Notable Children's Book, 2016
From School Library Journal
"While this graphic novel provides interesting information about the sport, at its heart is a story of friendship, exploring the tensions which test the girls' relationships as they move from childhood to adolescence. Astrid learns to be honest with herself, her mother, and her friends through a series of stressful events. The graphic novelist employs several excellent visual devices: angles to denote action and effective placement and space within panels. Jamieson's clever use of imagery is noteworthy."
From Kirkus Reviews
"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. Clean, bright illustrations evince the familiar emotions and bring the pathos to life in a way that text alone could not."
5. CONNECTIONS
Other books by Victoria Jamieson:
- Olympig. ISBN 9780803735361
- Pest in Show. ISBN 9780803737013
- Chmakova, Svetlana. Awkward. ISBN 9780316381307
- Holm, Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm. Sunny Side Up. ISBN 9780545741668
- Telgemeier, Raina. Drama. ISBN 9780545436995
Graphic novels also offer children an excellent advantage to become more emotionally savvy. When a child reads words that describe emotion, they may not fully understand the impact of the description, but when the words correspond to a drawing, readers can zero in on the facial expressions of the characters. The art can also be critical for readers who process things visually, like children on the autism spectrum.
A great way to engage children is to have them try to create their own graphic story. Introduce children to india ink and brushes, art materials they might not usually use. They can draw panels and pictures and then use regular markers to color in, just like a real graphic artist. Also, plan a field trip to the roller rink. If it's possible, make a connection with your local roller derby team and see if they can come out and skate with the students. If a field trip isn't possible, be fun, wear skates to school, sport a blue wig and rainbow socks in solidarity with Astrid.
Astrid spent a summer completely outside of her comfort zone. That's a lot of what adolescence is -- not feeling comfortable while a great transformation takes place both physically and emotionally. Help children make that transition by recognizing how difficult the process can be and letting them know you are there for them.
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