Roller derby has been around since the the 1920s and 30s, but the sport really hit its stride it the 60s and 70s, playing in televised bouts to crowds numbering in the tens of thousands. Sadly, the sport eventually rolled into obscurity, due at least in part to the pro wrestling-like approach to game play. In the early 2000s, however, women began forming skater-operated leagues, skating both banked track and flat track roller derby. These leagues now number in the hundreds, with some as far afield as New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Once again, the sport is growing in popularity; over 5,000 fans attended a recent Rat City Rollergirls bout in Seattle, a first for modern roller derby.
Whip It is based on the novel Derby Girl by Shauna Cross. Stuck in Bodeen, a tiny Texas town, Bliss Cavendar longs for a more exciting life. Her pageant-crazy mother wants her to compete for the Miss Bluebonnet crown. On a trip to nearby Austin, Bliss sees an ad for the Lone Star Derby Girls and attends her first bout. Inspired, she digs out her old Barbie skates and tries out for the league, earning herself a spot on the Hurl Scouts team under the moniker Babe Ruthless. But Bliss hasn't told her parents about her new life as a roller derby queen, instead claiming that she's taking SAT prep classes. When her secret derby life threatens to collide with her mother's pageant expectations, how will Bliss find her way out of a jam?
Written by a member of the L.A. Derby Dolls, Derby Girl has plenty of thrills and spills, along with a message of female empowerment and some hilarious commentary on mother-daughter relationships. After you read it, you may feel inspired to strap on your skates and roll around the rink a bit!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e5a4d91c-ff6e-4083-9f5c-5a5e38f27eea)

![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=78728782-4a27-4e04-ab1c-6d6dc3f4ed6c)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=65b6f66c-4f69-4a04-9292-dc47a9365be7)