Ashley Fiolek's - Kicking Up Dirt
April 2, 2010, 9:18am
by Ashley Fiolek
with Caroline Ryder
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)
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
with Caroline Ryder
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)
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