"In this book, many of the depictions of what a girl gang is are not the most admirable. They are often belligerent, rude, violent, and lewd. But it sure does make for great art and entertainment. However, if you can overlook the vices of the girl gang, you'll find their best aspects to be those shared with a roller derby team: a devil-may-care sense of fun, unassailable confidence, and a formidable sense of camaraderie." This explosive collection features more than 400 roller derby and girl gang-inspired artworks from 52 of today's most kick-ass artists from around the world. With posters, logos, fan art, pinups, and more, Roller Derby / Girl Gang serves as a scrapbook of rough-and-tumble, fun-loving girls banding together to take on the world. Includes a playlist of favorite bad-girl anthems curated by the artists, lists of their all-time favorite girl gangs, and a foreword by Samara Pepperell, a.k.a. Lady Trample.

Showcasing the diverse voices of girls across North America, Tatiana Fraser and Caia Hagel draw on the wisdom of young women making positive change in their own lives and communities, to offer tools for families, friends and educators to assist the empowerment of young women. With its engaging and cutting-edge view of the cultural, social, and political issues faced by girls, Girl Positive examines the transforming identities of girls in the world today. Examining topics from social media, sexual violence, hypersexuality and cyberspace identities to girls as world leaders of positive change, Girl Positive offers stories of struggle, victory, and inspiration. Travelling across Canada and the United States from Montreal to New Haven (CT), New Jersey to Toronto, Whitehorse to the Wemindji Cree Nation in northern Quebec, Fraser and Hagel spent time talking and hanging out with school-age girls, college students and young women early in their careers. Interspersed in these narratives is advice and input from adult experts in media, health, race, and gender politics, sexuality, education and leadership. Each chapter also includes a Survival Kit, which offers tips and discussion questions for girls and the adults in their lives. Through Fraser and Hagel's interviews readers will learn how to equip themselves to encourage girls (and boys)--as parents, friends, educators, mentors and activists. Girl Positive illuminates emerging culture and fresh politics, and shows us the future in the making.

Meet Bliss Cavendar, a blue haired, indie-rock loving misfit stuck in the tiny town of Bodeen, Texas. Her pageant-addicted mother expects her to compete for the coveted Miss Blue Bonnet crown, but Bliss would rather feast on roaches than be subjected to such rhinestone tyranny. Bliss' escape? Take up 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 bad-assed derby chick has to learn.

The 1950s phenomenon of Roller Derby is back in full force, and it's definitely not your grandma's game anymore. With leagues in more than one hundred cities across the country, a national tournament, and major sponsors, the new wave of the sport has gone mainstream. No one is better qualified to tell the story of Flat Track Derby's astronomic rise than Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan. As a founding member of the Texas Rollergirls -- the league that launched the sport and the reigning national champions -- she has helped redefine what it means to be stylish, sporty, and sexy. With her mouthy, tough-as-nails style, Melicious recounts her best tales from the track: her fierce rivalries with The Wrench and Ivanna S. Pankin, the scene at the annual national tournament, the thrill of a bout, and the infractions that so often bring her to the penalty box. From the minute she first laced up her skates and wrapped herself in her alter ego, Roller Derby has given her a confidence boost, and she shares the positive impact the sport has also had on girls -- young and not-so-young -- who tack posters of her on their bedroom walls and lace up their own skates. Complete with photos and suggestions on how to develop a Rollergirl name and persona, this unprecedented tell-all comes from the woman who's watched the sport evolve from an underground Friday-night event to a bona fide national phenomenon.

“Part manifesto, part how-to-guide . . . required reading for anyone who’s searching for new ways to be fearless.” —Carrie Brownstein When most Americans hear the words “roller derby” today, they think of the kitschy sport once popular on weekend television during the seventies and eighties. Originally an endurance competition where skaters traveled the equivalent of a trip between Los Angeles and New York, roller derby gradually evolved into a violent contact sport often involving fake fighting, and a kitschy weekend-television staple during the seventies and eighties. But in recent decades it’s come back strong, with more than 17,000 skaters in more than four hundred leagues around the world, and countless die-hard fans. Down and Derby will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the sport. Written by veteran skaters as both a history and a how-to, it’s a brassy celebration of every aspect of the sport, from its origins in the late 1800s, to the rules of a modern bout, to the science of picking an alias, to the many ways you can get involved off skates. Informative, entertaining, and executed with the same tough, sassy, DIY attitude—leavened with plenty of humor—that the sport is known for, Down and Derby is a great read for both skaters and spectators.

Charlotte Goodman has had enough surprises. In fact, she reached her life’s quotient when her husband of five months walked out on her, only to abruptly change his mind a few weeks later and move back in. Stung by a whiplash of grief, resentment, and confusion, Charlotte calls a time-out, taking a small apartment where she can figure out what she wants. Instead, the thought of making even the simplest choices triggers an anxiety attack. In order to get out of bed in the morning, she must concoct a to-do list for each day, The Plan, one with absolutely no surprises. “Without The Plan, horrible things can happen. I’m likely to end up sitting on a curb beside a taco truck on Sunset Boulevard, crying over a carne asada burrito, wondering where my marriage went. I can’t handle being the Weeping Burrito Girl.” Charlotte knows all this self-absorbed introspection isn’t good for her, but she’s running out of people to turn to, as seemingly everyone in her life is pressuring her to make an immediate decision about her future. Then her new friend Francesca—an impulsive, smartass co-worker—offers Charlotte salvation in the unlikeliest of places: the fast-paced, super-tough, bump-and-bruise-filled world of roller derby. Sure, it’s dangerous. Yeah, she could get hurt. But what’s a little physical pain when healing your soul is at stake? The question is: whether she’s on or off the track, will Charlotte be strong enough to stand on her own two feet?

From the concert stage to the dressing room, from the recording studio to the digital realm, SPIN surveys the modern musical landscape and the culture around it with authoritative reporting, provocative interviews, and a discerning critical ear. With dynamic photography, bold graphic design, and informed irreverence, the pages of SPIN pulsate with the energy of today's most innovative sounds. Whether covering what's new or what's next, SPIN is your monthly VIP pass to all that rocks.