Mighty Millie Novak

Gr 9 Up–Almost 16-year-old Millie Novak has decided to reinvent herself, starting with successfully passing tryouts for the Prairie Skate Juniors, her local junior roller derby league. Among her parents impending divorce, her brother going away to college, and her social isolation from attending online school, Millie is unhappy with the direction her life has taken and is determined to make friends and be considered a real athlete. After she makes the team, Millie and Pumpkin, her only friend and fellow league-mate, also begin to scheme to win over an older league member whom Millie has a crush on. Unfortunately, their schemes involve an increasingly elaborate series of lies, which all inevitably come back around to make Millie’s life worse. What’s more, Pumpkin seems to be less and less enthusiastic about derby and more interested in Millie’s older brother, which creates a rift in their friendship. In spite of a series of missteps and bad choices, Millie eventually manages to find her derby legs, make some friends, and come to terms with herself. She also finds love with a teammate, albeit one she would have least expected.