Derby Girl

by Shauna Cross

[journalingirl]

Why I read it?:

I watched the movie Whip It recently (I had been meaning to watch it for ages) and when I saw that it was based on a book, I wanted to experience the story from the source.

What I thought of it?:

I really wanted to like Derby Girl. I thought the movie was fantastic and roller derby really interested me, but it wasn’t meant to be. Cross obviously has a lot of growing to do as a writer. The book’s dialogue is minimal, some of the chapters are only two pages and seem to only have become chapters so she could include a chapter title, and it reads like a stream of conscious pity party for the main character, Bliss. While I really enjoyed to derby sections, it doesn’t come across as well in print as it did on screen. It doesn’t happen often, but this is one time I have to say the movie is better than the book.