“The Cherry Pits are in too,” Mambo said. “You can have a rematch once we get to bout season.”
“Here.” Lo took out a piece of paper from her clipboard and handed it to Bree. “Mambo, Raz, and I still need to form the other teams. Fill out as much information as you can on this sheet, then turn it in before you leave. You can finish the rest at practice.”
Practice!
Mambo grabbed a stack of purple slips and handed them to each girl. “And these are for your parents to sign. Don’t lose them. See y'all next weekend. Sound good?”
Kenzie’s cheeks hurt from smiling so wide.
“Sounds good,” she said.
The others nodded like bobbleheads. They scrambled down the steps after Bree to their duffel bags. Bree snagged a pen from her pack.
“OK,” Bree said. “Looks like they want names, birthdays, cell phone numbers, parent info—the works.” She clicked her pen and started filling out one section of the form. Next, she passed it to Tomoko, then on to Jules, then to Shelly.
Kenzie had just put on her shoes when the paper fluttered in her lap.
Kenzie Ellington, she wrote for her name.
Kenzilla, she wrote for her derby name.
“Hey,” Kenzie said. “The rest of you still need derby names.”
“I wouldn’t know what to choose,” Tomoko said shyly.
“That means we can brainstorm!” Shelly squealed. “Lo said we could finish filling this out next week. Anyone up for pizza and derby-dubbing?”
“Yeah!” Jules said.
“Wait.” Bree pointed at the very top of the sheet. “We should probably fill the first line out, though. Before we turn this in.”
Team name: ________________________________
The girls looked at one another blankly. Then Shelly clapped her hands.
“I’ve got one,” she said.
“What is it?” Tomoko asked.
Shelly turned to Kenzie. “Remember what the Cherry Pits jammer called us? After we growled at her?”
“Lucky?” Kenzie asked.
“No,” Shelly said. “She called us Tasmanian daredevils. I think we should be the Daredevils! Daredevils are brave and strong . . . and yeah, maybe they take some pretty big risks. But they’re awesome. And so are we!”
Kenzie looked at Shelly. She thought about the names they had come up with at the park earlier in the week. The M&Ms . . . the Scream Queens . . . none of those felt right anymore. It was impossible to add people to a Dynamic Duo. But as Kenzie sat between Jules and Bree, her skate laces tangled with Tomoko’s, she realized that roller derby wasn’t about the Dynamic Duo. It was about the team. Things were different now. Things were . . . better.
“It’s perfect,” Kenzie said. “We are so totally the Daredevils.”
Shelly beamed and folded her arms proudly.
Bree wrote DAREDEVILS! at the top of the sheet.
“Pizza time!” Jules cried out.
“And maybe ice pops after,” Shelly said.
“OK, but no Sour Birthdays for me,” Tomoko said. “Bleh. Only you and Kenzie like that one.”
The girls slung their bags over their shoulders. Kenzie handed in the info sheet while the others turned in their skates. The team clustered together as they left the warehouse. Bree’s hand hung next to Kenzie’s, their fingers tapping every few steps. Kenzie’s skin glowed. She wondered what it would be like to hang out with Bree off the track.
“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” Shelly said as they walked.
“I’m so hungry I could eat one of my shoes!” Jules added.
“I don’t think anyone would ever be hungry enough to smell one of your shoes, let alone eat it,” Tomoko said.
Bree pinched her nose. “I’m exactly hungry enough for pizza.”
“Yeah,” Jules said. “Lots and lots of pizza.”
Kenzie laughed and nodded. She hoped the pizza place was ready for a bunch of ravenous Derby Daredevils.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was made possible thanks to three extraordinary people. Thank you to my agent, Lauren Spieller, who loved this project first. Thank you to my editor, Courtney Code, for encouraging as many derby shenanigans as possible. Thank you to my illustrator, Sophie Escabasse, for making me cry all those times.
Thank you to the team at Abrams and to everyone who helped this book emerge from a feverish daydream to the real and gorgeous object I am probably clutching at this very moment.
Thank you, Texas Roller Derby Association and Albuquerque Roller Derby, for showing me the ropes/laces of roller derby.
Thank you to Hollins, to Team Triada, to the Epoch5, to BookPeople, to SCBWI, to Pitch Wars, to all my critique partners and writing buddies. Specific thanks to Brian Kennedy, Cory Leonardo, Ash Van Otterloo, Erica Waters, Wendy Heard, Susan Wider, Diana DeBolt, Amanda Rawson Hill, Cindy Baldwin, Jessica Vitalis, Remy Lai, August Smith, and my wonderful friend and mentor Francisco X. Stork.
Eternal gratitude to Jennifer Sigler for cranking the gears behind the curtain and getting me to sit down every day and write the words.
Thank you Cymeon and Jim Watters for letting me use up the printer paper, staples, and pink markers in my early days of making books. Brooke Watters, thank you for being my partner in all things mischievous.
David Rosewater, thank you for pointing down the path to my impossible dream and ordering me to march. You’re my favorite.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kit Rosewater writes books for children. Before she was an author, Kit taught theater to middle school students, which even a world-renowned cat herder once called “a lot of work.” Kit has a master’s degree in children’s literature. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her spouse and a border collie who takes up most of the bed. The Derby Daredevils: Kenzie Kickstarts a Team is her debut. Catch her online at kitrosewater.com or @kitrosewater.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Sophie Escabasse is the author-illustrator of the forthcoming graphic novel trilogy The Witches of Brooklyn. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family. Find her online at esofii.com or @esofiii.
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