Roller Girl (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2015) by Victoria Jamieson is such a delightful story of hard work, heart, old and new friends, and roller derby! The drawings are fun and really bring the story to life. If you’ve never read a graphic novel, this is the perfect one to start with. Really!
Twelve-year-old Astrid is at that age where friends are having diverging interests. Girls interested in fashion and the mall think those who are not are babies. Which makes Astrid very unhappy. And then she goes to her first roller derby. Her new hero is now Rainbow Bite. But unfortunately Astrid gets herself in trouble with assumptions and by hiding the truth. Will she make her new dream come true?
Roller Girl was a Newbery honor book in 2016! And it became a bestseller. If you go here, you can learn about the making of the book.
And go here to learn about author/illustrator Victoria Jamieson’s other books.
Author: Susan Uhlig
Be brave and have the courage to keep writing even when you’re afraid you’ll never be good enough.
Be brave and have courage
Warcross
I loved Warcross (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017) by Marie Lu and am thrilled there’s a sequel coming soon.
Emika Chen is a hacker and bounty hunter who is down on her luck. Frustrated she hacks into the International Warcross Championship and is seen! Instead of being arrested, she’s contacted by her idol Hideo Tanaka, the creator of Warcross. He flies her from NY to Tokyo where he asks her to be a spy in the tournaments of this popular virtual reality video game. Emika is in even before she sees the promised bounty.
Fun, action, danger, and even romance is in this near future sci-fi that moves rapidiy. I did not want to put this thriller down. And what a shocker ending!
Wildcard, comes out in September! (Love that cover! I know. I’m gushing. But you don’t want to miss this duology.)
Read about Marie Lu’s other books here.
The…thing you have to do to be a writer is to keep on writing.
The…thing you have to do
One of Us Is Lying
One of Us Is Lying (Delacorte Press, 2017) by Karen M. McManus is quite the mystery!
Five students in detension, but one doesn’t come out alive. All four remaining students are under suspicion, and not just because they were in the room. But Simon, the deceased, was going to reveal secrets about all four of these classmates. But Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, and Cooper know they didn’t do it. The teacher has no motive. So who could have murdered Simon?
The book has been a New York Times Best Seller and might become a TV series! I look forward to it.
Read about author Karen M. McManus here. In January, she has a new book coming out, too. Read the description here. Sounds great, too!