Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

Graphic Novel

Justification: I selected this title for my graphic novel genre choice predicated on its Newbery Honor status and excellent reviews. It's been on my elementary reading list and I was happy I chose this vibrant, uplifting book. It's been a popular choice with our pre-teen set of students, too.

Evaluation: The full-color comic panels are clean, bright, detailed, and stimulating. They readily convey both motion and emotion of our protagonist, young Astrid. Roller Derby is an intense, physical sport and the graphics in this novel portray the physicality and movement necessary for the high-contact action---pow(s)!---bam(s)! and arrrrrgh(s)! jump off the page as the reader falls and scrapes along with Astrid.

Twelve year old Astrid has been best friends with Nicole since second grade. She falls in love with roller derby and signs up for derby camp, but Nicole decides to pursue dance camp instead. Astrid has difficulty fitting in at camp; there are so many older and more experienced kids to contend with. Astrid is a typical pre-teen in that she sulks around and has a propensity for wearing her favorite black t-shirt over and over again. She feels herself struggling to maintain her friendship with Nicole and to find her identity on the team. Astrid transforms her initial superficial enthusiasm for the sport into intense dedication and commitment. She stays after practice and even roller-skates home (much to her mother's chagrin). She learns how to make a new friend, and how to salvage a friendship when beset with difficulty. With the help of her new friend, Astrid metamorphoses into the zippy, blue-haired "Asteroid"--her derby persona. It's rewarding to see Astrid transition into a confident young woman and to see her image portrayed in resplendent, vivid full-color panels.

As a graphic novel, Roller Girl does an excellent job of telling a story visually. Jamieson's use of color and shading create the mood for this novel. In fact, one could "read" the book just by taking in the images alone. The primary modality for communicating the story is via descriptive illustrating and the writing is secondary. The composition of the book is asymmetrical, alternating text in both the top and bottom of the panels and panel pages are interspersed with splash (full-page illustration). The brightness of the veritable rainbow of colors used in her novel evoke joy and a hopeful atmosphere. Even through Astrid faces challenges and even through she struggles, the visual tone of the novel remains uplifting and has an overall positive vibe.

Conclusion: Roller Girl is the perfect book for older primary children and pre-teens as they prepare for the transition into middle school. Messages of hard work, endurance and dedication pervade the book. Messages also explored entail: What does it take to be a good friend? and How do you maintain a friendship once you've "got it"?

Reference: Jamieson, V. (2015). Roller girl. New York : Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.