Here Come the Hurl Scouts!

Whip It

Written by: Shauna Cross

Released: September 15, 2009 by Square Fish

Summary: Skirts, Skates, & Scrapes!
All the old school skills with a new punk rock attitude
Come see The Lone Star Derby Girls
Austin’s All-Girl Roller Derby League
The Holy Rollers vs. The Fight Crew
Halftime Concert by the Chimney Sweeps
This ain’t no cheerleading clinic, y’all!

Meet Bliss Cavendar, an indie-rock-loving misfit stuck in the tiny town of Bodeen, Texas. Her pageant-addicted mother expects her to compete for the coveted Miss Bluebonnet crown, but Bliss would rather feast on roaches than be subjected to such rhinestone tyranny.

Bliss’s escape? Roller Derby.

When she discovers a league in nearby Austin, Bliss embarks on an epic journey full of hilarious tattooed girls, delicious boys in bands, and a few not-so-awesome realities even the most hard-core derby chick has to learn.

So I saw the movie when it was released and I loved it. Seriously, I’ve been wanting to go to a roller derby match ever since and I haven’t been able to; the next time that I’m able to go to a home game (heck, the next one that’s playing since I just missed the last one… damn website not being updated) is in October. Then there’s another one just days before my birthday, so you can guess what I’ll be doing.

Anyways, when I first saw the movie, I had no idea that it was based on a book. In fact, it was only recently that it came to my notice that there was a book about it. No, wait, that’s wrong. A few months ago I found the book at Chapters but I thought that it was a novelization of the movie and not the other way around, so I never gave it another thought. Thankfully, I saw the light and read this book.

I don’t think that I’ve enjoyed a teen-speak book as much as I enjoyed this one. Normally, the lingo really gets on my nerves but this one just added to the awesomeness of the book. I don’t know, it just went well with the entire vibe, or something.

The characters in this book were just so loveable, though I couldn’t help but picture the actors from the movie (sigh), and the characters you weren’t meant to love, well, you didn’t. I completely fell in love with Oliver as Bliss did and I was heartbroken when she had a fight with Pash. I also loved how the characters were described; it was so realistic and detailed without being overly so. The balance was terrific. And Bliss’ mom, she really grows on you; that’s about all I can say about her. By the end of the novel I loved her and thought that she was just the coolest mom ever.

I thought that one thing that really made this book something spectacular was that it was written by a real-life derby girl. I don't think that it would have had the same feel if it had been written by someone who wasn't a part of that world to begin with. I don't know, it just gave the book a complete sense of authenticity.

One thing that I didn’t like about this book was how it was the ‘Whip It’ version. I would have rather bought the ‘Derby Girls’ one, it just seems more original, but I made do.

Overall, this book is an 8/10 and letting you all know to read the book before watching the movie. The book is so much better in so many ways, but the movie has its own merits as well.