The team goes to derby skate camp. Tomoko is looking forward to it, because she’s done a lot of camping with her uncle. Very awkward when she realizes the camp isn’t out in the woods with tents, sleeping bags and marshmallows over a fire- after she’s brought all her camping gear along on the bus. To the middle of a big city. A girl on one of the other teams subtly makes fun of Tomoko- remarking on her body size, her ethnicity (and getting it wrong), and her camping gear. Tomoko is hurt by these microaggressions (defined in the book for young readers) but also because her teammates don’t seem to notice and she is uneasy about speaking up to the adult leaders. Then her teammates decide to go to a local park for their individual practice, where they play an invented game of basketball on roller skates. They get lost in the city and Tomoko figures out how to apply her wilderness skills to this new situation, helping them find their way back. An old lady chastises them in public, one girl gets her skate wheel stuck in a drain grate, and of course they’re in big trouble with the coaches for having left the building without permission. Now it comes to light how Tomoko has been feeling put down by the other derby player, and the coaches handle the situation well. Tomoko’s teammates rally around her and she begins to make a few friends from other teams.
Nice lessons in this one. I liked it more for the aspects of dealing with uncomfortable situations involving other people, and new environments (the city) than about the actual skating details. I was hoping there’d be more books in this series, maybe one from Bree’s perspective, but it seems to stop here so far.
Borrowed from the public library.
