The Derby Daredevils, Shelly Struggles to Shine levels up

I love it when the second book in a series surpasses the first one. It doesn’t even have to go all “Empire Strikes Back” and be leagues better than its predecessor. For us, just the fact that it’s better means that the series has lots of gas left in the tank. The Derby Daredevils: Kenzie Kickstarts a Team set up the story about a group of girls teaming up to create a roller derby team. That was a middle-grade book that mainly girls will enjoy that had a variety of positive, diverse themes. The Derby Daredevils: Shelly Struggles to Shine takes that storyline and delivers a J-block to the other teams lead jammer.

In other words, Shelly Struggles to Shine delivers a middle-grade book that’s funny, full of action, and utterly relatable to girls aged nine and up. This second book in The Derby Daredevils series is better than the first, but not annoyingly so. If it were leagues better than the first then there might be Ewoks, Gungun outcasts, purple-haired commanders, or poorly written storylines in future books, and nobody wants that.

Instead, we get a book that’s better and really shows the depth of another character who is on the team. There are five girls on the team and, according to Shelly; each one of them has their own special sauce that they bring to the plate. One is fast, another has no fear, she’s a great blocker, the other one is a master planner and Shelly isn’t sure where she fits in.

Everyone else is easy to pigeon hole and Shelly starts to doubt if she really has a place on the team. The team hasn’t questioned her abilities or anything about her skill. It’s all just her self-doubt. It starts with her thinking about her unique ability on the team and then bleeds over to school and life. What is it she really does well? What makes her stand apart from everyone else?

These questions are ones that any young reader in upper elementary through middle school will have. Heck, even those high school readers or up who are looking for comfort food will enjoy this book. It’s a book on friendship and self-development that’s lace with teamwork against an action backdrop of roller derby. I don’t know anything about roller derby you say. That’s fair enough, I don’t know anything about the sport either, but that’s not necessary.

The characters in the book drive this book home. They’re all different, but part of a team, in addition to growing up and getting through fifth-grade. Shelly Struggles to Shine paints a story that any kid that age will have something in common with. It’s not exclusively a book for girls, but they’ll enjoy it more simply because all of the characters in the book are girls. If boys enjoy a slight coming-of-age story that’s set against roller derby action; and can let go of the fact that the only male in the book is Shelly’s dad, then they’ll enjoy it. However, that’s a tall order.

Girls, get your skates on and settle up into the reading chair for this one. Shelly Struggles to Shine is a welcome sophomore contender that will entertain you as we all wait for the third book in The Derby Daredevils series. There are some illustrations that move the story along for those graphic novel kids that enjoy a picture or two to allow our minds to fill in the blanks also.

The Derby Daredevils: Shelly Struggles to Shine is by Kit Rosewater with illustrations by Sophie Escabasse and on Amulet Books, and imprint of Abrams Books.

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