“Ashley Fiolek’s incredible story perfectly embodies the adage ‘the only thing that deaf people can’t do is hear.’ Fiolek is an inspiration to anyone who has a barrier to overcome. My hands are waving in the air, and I’m screaming for her; this book should not be missed.” —Marlee Matlin “Ashley Fiolek’s not just good at motocross for a girl…she’s flat-out good. 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 CircusCalled “a crusader for gender equity in her sport” by the New York Times, 2008 Women’s Motocross Champion Ashley Fiolek’s inspiring memoir about her life-long deafness, her triumph over adversity, her rise to the top of her male-dominated extreme sport, and how her family and Christian faith helped her get there. Fans of motocross and extreme sports, as well as readers who enjoyed memoirs such as Bethany Hamilton’s Soul Surfer, will be inspired by Kicking Up Dirt.

In 1959, the year Terry Galloway turned nine, the voices of everyone she loved began to disappear. No one yet knew that an experimental antibiotic given to her mother had wreaked havoc on her fetal nervous system, eventually causing her to go deaf. As a self-proclaimed "child freak," she acted out her fury with her boxy hearing aids and Coke-bottle glasses by faking her own drowning at a camp for crippled children. Ever since that first real-life performance, Galloway has used theater, whether onstage or off, to defy and transcend her reality. With disarming candor, she writes about her mental breakdowns, her queer identity, and living in a silent, quirky world populated by unforgettable characters. What could have been a bitter litany of complaint is instead an unexpectedly hilarious and affecting take on life.From the Trade Paperback edition.