The Derby Daredevils are back. The fifth-grade roller derby team of friends Kenzie, Shelly, Bree, Tomoko, and Jules return in this second volume of the early-middle-grade series. This one is told from the perspective of Shelly, as the girls prepare for their first tournament.
Each of the other girls is the best at something, Shelly observes: Kenzie writes the game plays; Bree is the fastest; Tomoko the best blocker; and Jules the best hip checker. Shelly doesn’t know what she’s best at. With a little inspiration from her dad (who is divorced from her mom), Shelly puts her drawing skills to work and designs great new gear for the team. But the gear doesn’t work as she had hoped, and her teammates are less than thrilled? Can she still find a way to shine?
Teammate Kenzie’s crush on Bree is mentioned but not dwelt on here; this is Shelly’s story. A friend who uses they/them pronouns appears briefly, but is not a focus. I’m also tagging this book as having a trans man parent, Kenzie’s dad. He actually doesn’t appear in this volume, but does in the first, so consider it a tag for the series.
Themes of friendship and balancing individuality with teamwork are lightly woven in, with expressive illustrations on many pages (though this is an early middle-grade read, not a picture book). The girls also represent a range of racial identities: Kenzie, Shelly, and Jules are White; Bree is Black; Tomoko is Asian, and friend Camila is Latina.
