Graphic novel about a teenager who joins a roller derby team. Her team is highschoolers but they go up against semi-professionals in the league, and they literally have almost no practice time (or it’s not shown), and they didn’t even really try out- the coach accepted them on the spot because numbers in the league were so low they would take anyone who actually wanted to play. (Reminiscent of some other roller derby storylines I’ve read).
When they get to the competition, some of the girls aren’t even sure they want to play anymore. The older teams are vicious. They make a lot of verbal threats, insults, slurs, curse, you name it. And the sport is bloody, with just as much emphasis on giving the audience “a good show” with fighting and violence (including attacking each other with props), as winning by points. It’s set in the seventies, and the art style, clothing and hair vividly reflects that- but some of the stylized illustrations and lettering was over the top in my opinion, hard to read and difficult to tell what was actually happening. I did not care for how exaggerated the facial expressions were in many panels, and I sometimes got lost who was who. At the end, for example, it seemed there were two pairs of teams playing bouts- were they at the same venue? or playing at different times? it switched back and forth every few pages between them- and I had trouble keeping it straight. There were also dream sequences and interactions with imaginary friends/idols interspersed, sometimes hard to tell what was supposed to be reality or just in someone’s mind.
I was feeling pretty ‘meh’ about it all in the beginning, by the end some parts were starting to grow on me a little (I was intrigued by one of the opponents who was very angry at the main character for neglecting her Latina heritage- not being able to speak Spanish for example). Several other reviewers have said that this book is very unique and chaotic, and I would surely agree with that. By the way, there is also no explanation of the game or even what sport the girls are aiming to play in the beginning- not a single mention or image of roller skates until about page 50- I knew from the cover and the library catalog synopsis of course, but if you didn’t, you might be lost on that front, too.
There’s a second volume published, however the library doesn’t have a copy yet. I wouldn’t go buy this book, but I might borrow the second one when it becomes available, to see if it got better, or easier to follow, or if some of the plot lines that didn’t make sense/were left hanging, got picked up and continued (a lot of little things felt like they were hinting at stuff that would be explained or continue later on in the story). Maybe. Besides roller derby, I would say the main themes are- facing down (or just enduring) bullying, stubbornly continuing to try and do things you’re not good at yet, and for the main character, trying to figure out if she cares about her cultural identity, and dealing with her parents’ divorce (barely hinted at). It is enough to keep me intrigued, if only I could follow the storyline and images better.
Borrowed from the public library.
