Items in order will be sent as soon as they arrive in the warehouse. Forced to reckon with her past, she must decide if she can be Joan of Spark off the track, too-skating into a bolder, truer future. Gabe's arduous physical recovery is matched only by the painful process of beginning to heal her emotional wounds. In the aftermath of her accident, it becomes impossible to ignore the parallels between the physicality of roller derby and the emotional violence of her upbringing.

But when Gabe suffers a catastrophic injury, her unresolved trauma catches up with her. She chooses the derby name Joan of Spark, modeling herself after the fierce and independent Joan of Arc, to signify all the ways she's left behind the baggage of her childhood. Gabe soon finds community, safety, and a sense of belonging, reveling in the queer-friendly environment, tattoos, glitter, and campiness.

Louis, one of the top-rated teams in the country, and instantly falls in love with the sport's roughness, intensity, and open embrace of people who are literally and figuratively scarred. As she enters graduate school, she vows to put the trauma of her past behind her and to learn to fully inhabit her body. In this turbulent environment, she developed a severe eating disorder, learned to distrust herself, and lived in constant fear. Gabe Montesanti grew up queer in a working-class, Catholic family in a conservative small town in the Midwest. A crash course in the brutal, big-hearted world of roller derby, told through the unforgettable story of one young woman's fight to find her place in the world.

Brace for impact gabe montesanti