Dairy Queen

I picked this book up because the cover got to me in a
big way. If I owned the original photograph, I'd frame
it. When I started browsing through the book, I got
hooked by the marvelous DJ and the story of what
happens when nobody talks about what's going on in
their lives and their hearts.

To an adult, urban reader in this psychologized world,
Dairy Queen is a thriller. Each muted half-conversation
is tense with things unsaid and with personhood denied.
It's a book I would have loved to share with my kid.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN
9781601640005

Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock tells the story of a girl named D.J. who has to pick up the slack on her family's farm when her father's hip injury prevent him from doing the bulk of the work. Her two older brothers, now away at college, were big hometown football stars. She helped them train for football while she trained for track and basketball.

During the summer, she has to help train Brian, the quarterback for the rival high school's football team, as a favor to the coach, a longtime friend of her father's. D.J. does so reluctantly at first, only to strike up a friendship with him -- and realize how much she herself enjoys the game. So much so that she decides to go out for the team when the school year starts back up again.

Though this book has been strongly received by sports fans, please note that there's more to this story than just football. It is also about family. It is about growing up on a farm, about growing up in a small town, and simply about growing up. Though D.J.'s family members don't talk or emote very much, they are everpresent: the farm and her father are always on her mind, and she misses her brothers in fits and starts. D.J. is also going through a rough patch with her long-time best friend, Amber, and almost doesn't believe it herself when the two girls argue and drift apart. She's got a lot on her plate, and if she doesn't balance it correctly, she may have to drop something and disappoint her family and herself.

Catherine Murdock's debut novel won over readers. It was followed up a sequel entitled The Off-Season. D.J.'s fans should also check out the corny-but-cute made-for-television movie Quarterback Princess starring Helen Hunt.

Dairy Queen was a great read! I read it it one day because it was so fun...its really a page turner because you really just cant get enough of D.J.'s mishaps.

Dairy Queen tells of D.J.'s summer spent on her farm in Wisconsin. Football is also big in this novel. D.J. wants to try out for football but is afraid of what her dad will think. I liked getting a taste of what life is like on the farm, which isnt pretty...

The ending left me wanting more which is why I cant wait for the sequel to come out. Happy Reading!

DJ Schwenk is a girl, over-worked, over wrought by family weights, growing up on a Dairy Farm in Wisconsin. Her unique perspective is a refreshing Tao of Cows: maybe everyone in the whole world was just like a cow, and we all go along doing what we're supposed to do without complaining or even really moving, until we die. Stocking groceries and selling cars and teaching school and cashing checks and raising kids, all these jobs that people just one day start doing without even really thinking about it, walking right into their milking stall the way that heifers do after they've had their first calf and start getting milked for the first time. Until we die. And maybe that's all there is to life."

DJ decides to break out of her stall and shake things up. The whey is not smooth, but it `s a good read for young adults and up. Now, stop reading these reviews - they reveal too much of the plot, (spilling the milk - so to speak, and spoiling what in leisurely cow time took our author/narrator 129 of the 275 pages to get to) - and just buy the book! /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

I really enjoyed Dairy Queen. It did drag a bit, perhaps, in the first half, but I stayed up late to finish it. Much more compelling and enjoyable than other YA's I've read lately. D.J.'s voice is what makes this story come alive.