Down and Derby The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby

Roller derby has been making a huge comeback in recent years. There are now more than 17,000 skaters in more than 400 leagues across the world, with hundreds of thousands of die-hard fans. Written by two veteran skaters - Alex 'Axles of Evil' Cohen and Jennifer 'Kasey Bomber' Barbee - Down and Derby now tells readers everything they ever wanted to know about the sport - from its origins in the late 19th century to the rules of a modern bout and the science of picking an alias.

Alex Cohen initially thought she wanted to be an actress, so she studied theater at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She went on to study theater at Brown University, but became way more interested in Eastern Religions--which is what she earned her B.A. in with honors in 1993.

Jennifer Barbee joined the LA Derby Dolls in October 2003, rechristened herself Kasey Bomber, and became the co-captain of the fun-loving Trust Fund Terrors. Since roller derby was still the early days of its revival, Jennifer made it her mission to unite the Dolls in spirit with all the other leagues across the country. Many airline miles, toasts to success, and skating-induced blisters later, she took that mission one step further by helping to organize the first national roller derby convention, Rollercon, in Las Vegas in 2005. After several exciting seasons, Jennifer retired from team skating in 2008 to focus on coaching, and refocus on writing for publications such as Blood and Thunder Magazine. In 2009, she was hired to help train actresses Ellen Page, Juliette Lewis, and Drew Barrymore for the derby-inspired film Whip It! Her co-trainer, and good friend was Alex "Axles of Evil" Cohen. The seeds of Down & Derby: An Insider's Guide to Roller Derby were planted during the many hours of down time on the film's set in Michigan, and the friends became writing partners.