Ashley Fiolek's Memoir on Sale April 27
March 31, 2010, 1:31pm
CALLED “A CRUSADER FOR GENDER EQUITY IN HER SPORT” BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, MOTOCROSS CHAMPION ASHLEY FIOLEK OFFERS HER INSPIRING MEMOIR ABOUT HER LIFELONG DEAFNESS, HER TRIUMPH OVER ADVERSITY, HER RISE TO THE TOP OF HER SPORT, AND HOW HER FAMILY AND CHRISTIAN FAITH HELPED HER GET THERE
With her contagious grin and indomitable spirit, 19-year old Ashley Fiolek is already one of the top female competitors in a male-dominated sport: motocross, a form of off-road motorcycle racing that is one of the most competitive and dangerous extreme sports in the world. Since going pro in late 2007, Fiolek has taken gold at the X Games, won the American Women's Motocross Championship twice, and become the first woman in American motocross history to be signed to a factory team. Her new memoir, Kicking Up Dirt (It Books; on sale 4/27/10; $21.99; ISBN: 9780061946479) chronicles Ashley’s exciting
PRAISE FOR KICKING UP DIRT
Ashley Fiolek’s incredible story perfectly embodies the adage ‘the only thing that deaf people can’t do is hear.’ From her parents’ determination to not let her deafness stand in her way to her rise as a motocross champion, Fiolek is an inspiration to anyone – not only deaf people – who has had a barrier to overcome. Even more amazing is that through her heartbreaking injuries and thrilling victories, she is a young girl with a loving family who is driven by her faith and who has a dream just like anyone else. My hands are waving in the air and I’m screaming for her now; Kicking Up Dirt should not be missed. ?Marlee Matlin
It's difficult to imagine that such a petite girl with a warm smile could be so phenomenal in an extreme sport like motocross. But Ashley Fiolek’s not just good for a girl…she’s flat-out good. When she’s on her dirt bike, she’s no longer just a deaf girl – she is a tough, confident, competitive racer who has overcome enough in her life to know that nothing is impossible.
?Travis Pastrana, nine-time X Games gold medalist and host of Nitro Circus
Ashley Fiolek has lived an inspiring life so far, including the thrilling 2009 WMX Championships, in which Fiolek crashed her bike, snapping her collarbone. Ashley got back on her bike and crossed the finish line to take home the championship trophy. Quitting has never been part of Ashley's vocabulary.
Fiolek’s rise has not been without obstacles. She was born profoundly deaf, a handicap that makes competition on the track dangerous. She was originally misdiagnosed as "mildly retarded" by doctors and was shy and introverted as a young child, until her family encouraged her to join the amateur motocross circuit. She began racing at seven. And as her successes grew through hard work and no small number of broken bones, so too did her confidence. Fiolek and her family never believed her disability should stand in the way of her dreams.
Kicking Up Dirt is a remarkable, inspiring tale of a young woman’s courage, faith and determination to succeed in the face of truly challenging circumstances.
ASHLEY FIOLEK won gold in women’s motocross at the 2009 X Games and the American Women’s Motocross Championship in 2008 and 2009. Author of the monthly column “Silence” in TransWorld magazine, Fiolek has also been featured in the New York Times, USA TODAY, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, ESPN: The Magazine, Cosmo Girl, and Paper magazine, and appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. Born just outside of Detroit, Fiolek now lives in St. Augustine, Florida, and travels the world to compete.
CAROLINE RYDER has written for the Los Angeles Times, Paper, and Dazed and Confused, and lives in Los Angeles. Visit her website www.carolineryder.com.
KICKING UP DIRT
A True Story of Determination, Deafness, And Daring
by Ashley Fiolek
with Caroline Ryder
It Books; Hardcover
On Sale: April 27, 2010/ $2199 US.
191 pages with b/w photos throughout & an 8-page color insert
ISBN: 9780061946479
With her contagious grin and indomitable spirit, 19-year old Ashley Fiolek is already one of the top female competitors in a male-dominated sport: motocross, a form of off-road motorcycle racing that is one of the most competitive and dangerous extreme sports in the world. Since going pro in late 2007, Fiolek has taken gold at the X Games, won the American Women's Motocross Championship twice, and become the first woman in American motocross history to be signed to a factory team. Her new memoir, Kicking Up Dirt (It Books; on sale 4/27/10; $21.99; ISBN: 9780061946479) chronicles Ashley’s exciting
PRAISE FOR KICKING UP DIRT
Ashley Fiolek’s incredible story perfectly embodies the adage ‘the only thing that deaf people can’t do is hear.’ From her parents’ determination to not let her deafness stand in her way to her rise as a motocross champion, Fiolek is an inspiration to anyone – not only deaf people – who has had a barrier to overcome. Even more amazing is that through her heartbreaking injuries and thrilling victories, she is a young girl with a loving family who is driven by her faith and who has a dream just like anyone else. My hands are waving in the air and I’m screaming for her now; Kicking Up Dirt should not be missed. ?Marlee Matlin
It's difficult to imagine that such a petite girl with a warm smile could be so phenomenal in an extreme sport like motocross. But Ashley Fiolek’s not just good for a girl…she’s flat-out good. When she’s on her dirt bike, she’s no longer just a deaf girl – she is a tough, confident, competitive racer who has overcome enough in her life to know that nothing is impossible.
?Travis Pastrana, nine-time X Games gold medalist and host of Nitro Circus
Ashley Fiolek has lived an inspiring life so far, including the thrilling 2009 WMX Championships, in which Fiolek crashed her bike, snapping her collarbone. Ashley got back on her bike and crossed the finish line to take home the championship trophy. Quitting has never been part of Ashley's vocabulary.
Fiolek’s rise has not been without obstacles. She was born profoundly deaf, a handicap that makes competition on the track dangerous. She was originally misdiagnosed as "mildly retarded" by doctors and was shy and introverted as a young child, until her family encouraged her to join the amateur motocross circuit. She began racing at seven. And as her successes grew through hard work and no small number of broken bones, so too did her confidence. Fiolek and her family never believed her disability should stand in the way of her dreams.
Kicking Up Dirt is a remarkable, inspiring tale of a young woman’s courage, faith and determination to succeed in the face of truly challenging circumstances.
ASHLEY FIOLEK won gold in women’s motocross at the 2009 X Games and the American Women’s Motocross Championship in 2008 and 2009. Author of the monthly column “Silence” in TransWorld magazine, Fiolek has also been featured in the New York Times, USA TODAY, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, ESPN: The Magazine, Cosmo Girl, and Paper magazine, and appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. Born just outside of Detroit, Fiolek now lives in St. Augustine, Florida, and travels the world to compete.
CAROLINE RYDER has written for the Los Angeles Times, Paper, and Dazed and Confused, and lives in Los Angeles. Visit her website www.carolineryder.com.
KICKING UP DIRT
A True Story of Determination, Deafness, And Daring
by Ashley Fiolek
with Caroline Ryder
It Books; Hardcover
On Sale: April 27, 2010/ $2199 US.
191 pages with b/w photos throughout & an 8-page color insert
ISBN: 9780061946479
