Dairy Queen

This book was a Christmas present from a friend. I started it, and literally could not put it down. Because it is geared toward a younger audience, it was a relatively quick read. However, there is a twist at the end that I did not expect AT ALL, and the sheer creativity of it brought tears to my eyes (I am not a big crier, especially for books, but it was so startling and wonderful!!). It was FANTASTIC! The development of the characters was believable and the growth and change in relationships that happen so quickly at that age was very true-to-life. (I agree that some of the adults were rather two-dimensional; however, sometimes when I was a teen, that was exactly how the adults appeared to me. It was believable.)

This is a wonderful, quicker read that is appropriate for middle school students and older. It is on my list to give to our middle school and our local library. Even adults will enjoy this book. At the very least, it would be wonderful beach reading.

D.J. Schwenk is the third child, and only daughter, of a small-town Wisconsin dairy farmer. The summer she turns sixteen finds her shouldering much of the load of the farm, because her two older brothers are off at football camp, and her father has an injured hip. She doesn't complain much, and struggles to meet the expectations of her demanding father, but inside, she's not happy. She's doing poorly in school, because of the farm work, and had to quit the basketball team, where she was a star. She has a best friend, Amber, but things aren't perfect between them either. And she worries about her younger brother, Curtis, who hardly ever talks.

A family friend, the football coach of the rival high school, sends one of his star players to help out on the Schwenk's farm. Brian Nelson has a great arm, but has been spoiled by his father, and doesn't have much discipline or team spirit. Before she quite knows what's happening, D.J. agrees to train Brian, to help him get ready for the fall season. They have to keep this a secret, because the towns are such strong rivals, and Brian ends up helping out on the farm quite a bit as camouflage for what they're really doing. After a prickly start, Brian and D.J. learn to talk to one another openly, and both grow as a result.

The story is told in D.J.'s first-person voice, which is necessary, because she's so quiet that we could never get to know her in third person. But inside her head, D.J. has a lot to say, and a thoughtful, sometimes sarcastic, voice. Here are a few examples:

"If there ever was a TV show called People Who Are Crazy and Need to Have Their Heads Examined, I'd be the very first guest. They'd put me on one of those couches and a guy with a beard and funny accent would ask me questions, and the audience would ooh and aah as they realized this girl was crazy. What else would explain what I had just done?" (Chapter 8)

"I kept eating, my head down. Mom kept talking, but I didn't say anything else because that's what we Schwenk's do. If there's a problem or something, instead of solving it or anything, we just stop talking. Just like cows." (Chapter 9)

"Amber was pretty good at making fun of people, but Brian -- well, he did make fun of other people, like me not being able to talk or his mom and sunblock, but it wasn't mean. It was just fun. If I had to make a list of the very best qualities someone could have, that would be right at the top. Being nice-fun instead of mean-fun." (Chapter 12)

D.J. does think a lot about football, and about cows, but for the most part she uses them as metaphors to think about larger questions. For instance, she draws analogies between people's rote actions and the day to day existence of cows, wanting to not be like a cow (someone who doesn't make choices) herself. She made me think about my own life, and times when I go through the motion on a day-to-day basis vs. displaying initiative.

Dairy Queen is a romance, in a sense, as we explore the growing friendship between the awkward farm girl and the spoiled quarterback. But that aspect of it never comes close to dominating the real story, which is about the coming of age of a girl in difficult circumstances, trying to find her own voice. I identified with D.J, despite our very different backgrounds and interests. More importantly, I cared about her, and wanted her to be ok. When I finished the book, all I could think about was getting on to the sequel, so I could spend more time with her.

I loved Dairy Queen, and I highly recommend it for upper middle school and high school readers. It's quite clean, except for some references to underage drinking. While I think that boys could enjoy it, given all of the football and training references, the female protagonist might keep them away. But I hope that the football aspects of the story won't keep non-athletic girls away. Because once you give her a chance, D.J. has a lot to offer.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on June 3, 2007.

The only sport that D.J. will truly ever know is football, what with most of her family playing it and the cows having names like Joe Namath. The only life D.J. Schwenk is used to is the farm life. Now that her two oldest brothers are gone to college, and never seem to stay in contact with them, and her father having a bad hip, it's up to D.J. and her brother, Curtis, the one that hardly ever talks, to get things done.

But this summer it looks like D.J. will be getting an extra hand from Brian Nelson, the football player from Hawley, the enemy school. Even though Brian is helping, he isn't very good at it. Let's just say his farm work is as bad as his football skills. But for some reason, everyone thinks he's the next greatest football player. What's worse is that D.J. is actually starting to like Brian, but he's the enemy and can hardly throw a ball. So what does D.J. do? Well, she starts to train Brian, since she would always have to help her brothers during football season, and maybe now Brian would see her as more than just a farm girl.

That's not the only issue that D.J. has though; her mother is working two jobs to support the family and it seems like she is keeping something from them. And D.J.'s best friend isn't being so friendly anymore. And what about the idea that just so suddenly pops up into D.J.'s mind, the one that says she should try out for the football team. Let's just hope that not everyone in her town will go crazy over this idea, especially her parents. But can she do it?

DAIRY QUEEN is an extremely cute coming-of-age novel. It goes against all the clichés where girls are just not good at guy sports. And D.J. is the perfect heroine, showing that anyone can do anything if they just put their mind to it. A wonderful story that is far from ice-cream -- but it still fills your heart with joy!

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

Picked this book up because the cover was appealing, without realizing it is geared towards HS age. It was an entertaining book, easy to read on a shallow level, but with lots more to it if you care to analyze. One one level, a 'romance'...boy and girl take instant dislike to each other, but end up friends....will it be more than that?
But if you want to go on to a deeper level, there is the story of growing up, of standing up for yourself and acting on YOUR beliefs instead of trying to please everyone by 'going along'.
As I read I felt like I was listening to a teen...casual and unpolished narrative...which in this case is good. Formal, structured grammar would have taken away a bit of the 'atmostphere'.
A lot was accomplished this summer, but at the end, you have to wonder...I don't want to tell you what about and give away the end...but luckily, I hear the author wrote a sequel, so my questions will probably be answered.

Can I say interesting? Well, I just did. This book wasn't like a lot of the other books I read... it was interesting and unpredictable, and it wasn't so much about D.J. playing football as it was about how she grew up in one summer. Football brought the plot along, yeah, but it was still only a half-plot. I still liked the book a lot, though, because it was sweet in a way, and the characters were unique and different.

Not sure if it was the best book in the world, but it was great in it's own way, especially for a debut novel.