BRUISED

Eighteen-year-old Daya tries to navigate life after the sudden deaths of her parents in a car accident.

Daya Wijesinghe is familiar with pain and finds comfort in it. Pain is how she copes with her feelings, and the bruises she gets from skateboarding are her way of keeping the hurt on the surface. Upon being introduced to roller derby by her friend Fee, Daya is fascinated by the sport that to her seems driven by brute strength—until she ventures in further. While roller derby gives Daya the external bruises she wants, she discovers a place of deep reckoning and healing through this sport as well. Boteju writes with acumen about the roller-coaster ride of being a teenager. Daya is both a highly frustrating and deeply engaging character, with a strong character arc. Readers get to see her many shades, both in terms of her personality (hard shell plus vulnerability) and her bruises (physical, including from self-harm, and psychological). Daya is of Sri Lankan descent and queer. Some secondary characters are gender-nonconforming and queer; Fee uses they/them pronouns, and their girlfriend is deaf and uses ASL. The backmatter includes a fascinating brief history of roller derby, focusing on the strong and inclusive community that has grown up around it.

A searing portrait of self-discovery; soulful and captivating.