Author: Victoria Jamieson
Illustrator: Victoria Jamieson
Publisher: Dial Books
Publication Date: March 10th, 2015
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel
GoodReads Summary: For fans of Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, a heartwarming graphic novel about friendship and surviving junior high through the power of roller derby.
Twelve-year-old Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole. So when Astrid signs up for roller derby camp, she assumes Nicole will too. But Nicole signs up for dance camp with a new friend instead, and so begins the toughest summer of Astrid's life. There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is without Nicole...and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl.
What I Think: Eep! I loved this book! t took me way too long to read it but now that I have, I can weigh in on its awesomeness. Gosh, growing up isn't easy but I'm glad young readers have this book. Victoria Jamieson does a great job of capturing the ups and downs of friendship while navigating the courage of new experiences.
I've been leading a Saturday course on creating graphic novels with students in 3rd - 6th grade and it has been so much fun to talk to them about their favorite graphic novels. I was super excited to share Roller Girl with them and know they'll love it! We spent time talking about characters and now as they've started drawing their own stories on pages of blank panels, we've looked at graphic novels as mentor texts for how to show that time has passed or how to zoom in on a character's face or just how to show the setting from far away and then how to zoom in by using panels in a row. It has been so fun to watch their stories come to life. Next, we'll be talking about dialogue and speech and thought bubbles. I'm excited to show them how Astrid and Nicole act towards each other and how the dialogue along with the artwork supports our understanding of each of their characters...along with the other fun characters in this book.
Read Together: Grades 4 - 6
Read Alone: Grades 4 - 8
Read With: Smile and Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, Sunny Side Up by Jenni Holm and Matt Holm, Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you had to do something all on your own. How did you handle it? How did it feel?
Topics Covered: Friendship, Bravery, Courage
I *heart* It:
No comments:
Post a Comment