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Adventures with Barbie #6
Rollerblade Crusade
When Barbie and her friends visit a beachfront resort to practice their in-line skating, they become involved in tracking down the source of the dumping that is polluting the beach
64 pages, Paperback
First published July 13, 1992
About the author
Suzanne Weyn
208 books649 followersSuzanne Weyn grew up in Williston Park, Long Island, New York. She has three sisters and a brother. As a girl, she was very interested in theatre and in reading. Louisa May Alcott was her favorite author, but she also read every Sherlock Holmes story. Suzanne lived pretty close to the ocean and going to Jones Beach was one of her favorite activities. Even today, if she goes too long without seeing the ocean, she starts feeling restless.
Suzanne now lives in upper New York State with her husband, two teen daughters and Abby the cat. Her house is at the edge of the woods and is nearly 200 years old. She graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton and received her master's degree from Pace University. She teaches part-time at City College in New York.
Suzanne's other books for Simon Pulse include South Beach Sizzle, a romantic comedy written with Diana Gonzalez. Her novels for the Simon Pulse line "Once Upon a Time" are The Night Dance: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Water Song: A Retelling of the Frog Prince, and The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumplestiltskin. She very much enjoys rethinking these classic tales from an original point of view, always looking for the real psychological underpinning of the story. Suzanne is currently doing revisions on her fourth book in the line, which will be coming in 2009.
Suzanne's other recent novels are include The Bar Code Tattoo (2004) and its sequel, The Bar Code Rebellion (2006). The Bar Code Tattoo was selected by the American Library Assoc. (ALA) as a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction. It is currently translated into German and was nominated for the 2007 Jugenliteraturpreis for Young People's Literature.
Suzanne now lives in upper New York State with her husband, two teen daughters and Abby the cat. Her house is at the edge of the woods and is nearly 200 years old. She graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton and received her master's degree from Pace University. She teaches part-time at City College in New York.
Suzanne's other books for Simon Pulse include South Beach Sizzle, a romantic comedy written with Diana Gonzalez. Her novels for the Simon Pulse line "Once Upon a Time" are The Night Dance: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Water Song: A Retelling of the Frog Prince, and The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumplestiltskin. She very much enjoys rethinking these classic tales from an original point of view, always looking for the real psychological underpinning of the story. Suzanne is currently doing revisions on her fourth book in the line, which will be coming in 2009.
Suzanne's other recent novels are include The Bar Code Tattoo (2004) and its sequel, The Bar Code Rebellion (2006). The Bar Code Tattoo was selected by the American Library Assoc. (ALA) as a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction. It is currently translated into German and was nominated for the 2007 Jugenliteraturpreis for Young People's Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 22, 2012
I liked how the cover of these book had real dolls on them. They wern't bad and tried to find as many as I could but I don't think I found but four of them.
April 6, 2023
The amount of times Rollerblade In-line Skates Trademark was mentioned was entertaining, should have kept count. Good message about pollution and dumping in the oceans.
February 1, 2026
This latest emotional regression flashback read is brought to you by my ongoing mental health crisis.
This is the other Barbie book I had when I was a kid that was most burned into my brain. (Although they do drop out of nowhere at the end that Barbie’s just been accepted to the best ballet school in the world, because of course she has, and now that’s reviving vague memories of the ballet book I’m going to have to track down.)
This cover is just glorious. This book was a promotion for the 1991 Rollerblade (registered trademark) Barbie line. No one in this book just calls them skates. Every time, it’s, “My new Rollerblade (r) in-line skates!” With the little “r” in the circle symbol. It’s so funny. That’s honestly the part of the book that stuck most with me. That there was a Barbie book for children with brand synergy. (This Barbie line was later recalled because the skates produced actual sparks when in contact with a hard surface. It dawned belatedly on someone that this might be a dangerous fire hazard built into their toy for children. God, I miss the 90s.)
Every outfit described in this book is the most fantastically tacky thing. Barbie’s final Rollerblade (r) in-line skate performance outfit is a pair of “denim shorts with the star studs and red-white-and-blue design at the waist. She wore a hot pink midriff top and a denim vest. The gang had decided they’d all dress in their denim best for the show.” I had to stare out the window for a minute at that description. God, I miss the 90s.
But the Rollerblade (r) in-line skate tie-in surprisingly takes up very little of the book. Barbie and her friends are dismayed to learn that someone has been dumping garbage on the beach. Despite entreating help from the mayor and a local journalist, Barbie finds as always that she has to do everything around here. Instantly, she and her friends crack the case. I do think it’s interesting that the culprit is a makeup company. Who pollutes the ocean and tests on animals. Absolutely did not recall that. But I do think that’s a cool decision for a villain in a book aimed at young girls. Turns out some makeup companies are evil!
Barbie and friends also single-handedly organize a beach clean-up effort. Like, honestly, the mystery’s kind of a clunker, and the contractually required blatant advertising for a doll that sets you on fire is bad, but the rest of this book has kind of aged really great? Pay attention to the cute guy’s vibes before you fall for him. Be aware of the practices of the companies you buy from. Politicians will not save you. Mutual aid and grassroots organizing are the way of the future. Damn, Suzanne. Out here fighting the good fight right under Mattel’s nose.
This is the other Barbie book I had when I was a kid that was most burned into my brain. (Although they do drop out of nowhere at the end that Barbie’s just been accepted to the best ballet school in the world, because of course she has, and now that’s reviving vague memories of the ballet book I’m going to have to track down.)
This cover is just glorious. This book was a promotion for the 1991 Rollerblade (registered trademark) Barbie line. No one in this book just calls them skates. Every time, it’s, “My new Rollerblade (r) in-line skates!” With the little “r” in the circle symbol. It’s so funny. That’s honestly the part of the book that stuck most with me. That there was a Barbie book for children with brand synergy. (This Barbie line was later recalled because the skates produced actual sparks when in contact with a hard surface. It dawned belatedly on someone that this might be a dangerous fire hazard built into their toy for children. God, I miss the 90s.)
Every outfit described in this book is the most fantastically tacky thing. Barbie’s final Rollerblade (r) in-line skate performance outfit is a pair of “denim shorts with the star studs and red-white-and-blue design at the waist. She wore a hot pink midriff top and a denim vest. The gang had decided they’d all dress in their denim best for the show.” I had to stare out the window for a minute at that description. God, I miss the 90s.
But the Rollerblade (r) in-line skate tie-in surprisingly takes up very little of the book. Barbie and her friends are dismayed to learn that someone has been dumping garbage on the beach. Despite entreating help from the mayor and a local journalist, Barbie finds as always that she has to do everything around here. Instantly, she and her friends crack the case. I do think it’s interesting that the culprit is a makeup company. Who pollutes the ocean and tests on animals. Absolutely did not recall that. But I do think that’s a cool decision for a villain in a book aimed at young girls. Turns out some makeup companies are evil!
Barbie and friends also single-handedly organize a beach clean-up effort. Like, honestly, the mystery’s kind of a clunker, and the contractually required blatant advertising for a doll that sets you on fire is bad, but the rest of this book has kind of aged really great? Pay attention to the cute guy’s vibes before you fall for him. Be aware of the practices of the companies you buy from. Politicians will not save you. Mutual aid and grassroots organizing are the way of the future. Damn, Suzanne. Out here fighting the good fight right under Mattel’s nose.
August 9, 2011
I can't remember
April 14, 2012
A lot going on for such a little story, but very entertaining. Grade 4.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews