Dairy Queen

I never would have believed Catherine Gilbert Murdock's debut teen novel, Dairy Queen, about a fifteen-year-old Wisconsin farm girl whose family is steeped in football would keep me up all night reading, but that is what happened. I refused to stop reading the perfect-pitched voice of her protagonist, D.J. (Dorrie) Schwenk. Second, Murdoch's book is definitely against type when it comes to characters and subject matter.

The thing about D.J. and her family is that they do not talk; they work. When D.J. finally discovers her voice, this fifteen-year-old has a lot to say about her life, her family, her passion for sports, and her cows. While Dairy Queen may appear to be about Wisconsin farm life, heartland football, and a maturing teenager, at its center the book is an exploration into communication and what happens when families and friends fail to go beyond surface talk.

Murdock also has a thread that lightly touches on the sexual orientation of one of the characters. The storyline is an echo of the major theme and is done with a light touch, not with humor but with care. Some may find that it provides added depth. I'm not sure how necessary it was given the many layers already woven into the story's fabric, but it adds texture and it works.

Dairy Queen encourages you to wade further and further into deep waters. D.J. is coming into her own as an individual and as a young woman. While the opening does read a bit slow, it captures the thought processes of a young woman who is not used to talking and who has to slog her way through mounds of verbiage. The long, sometimes extra long, sentences reflect a mind groping, searching to find the right phrase. The story soon gains momentum. Murdock is great at depicting farm life and expertly weaves the descriptions in with D.J.'s observations making them all relevant, and the barn functions as a symbol that works on several levels. While the story builds to a fast-paced ending, the characters linger, working Murdoch's magic in the reader's mind long after the final page has been turned.

Dairy Queen is aimed for readers 12 and up, but the story will provide the most enjoyment for readers who are mature and willing to allow D.J. all the room she needs to grow.

I'm going to disagree with what everyone else here has written. I thought the first half of this book dragged and I didn't see what all the praise was about. Ms. Murdock needed a stronger editor, in my opinion. I'm not entirely sure why I read that far except that I was stuck on a plane. I don't know if my students, would give the book to page 130 or so to pick up.

I really enjoyed the last half of the book - there was plenty of action, there were reasons for all the drama and there was a real sense of humor reflected in both the characters and their situations. The first half of the book could have been cut in half and the book would have been stronger.

I had problems with several of the characters. I don't know why the adults are all so two-dimensional. Why include them at all? And what's with all the side stories about her brothers? One shows up in a single scene, one never shows at all and the youngest one doesn't seem to have a purpose other than to make her drive to a city to get a haircut.

Not just for Teens. I loved it and then gave as a gift it to a Godchild of 30 something who loved it too. so now I am waiting to get the report from the two teens; one girl and one boy who have it. Something so sharp about dealing with real imperfect people in a loving way. Nothing held back in growing up and learning to be an adult. Whatever age it seems to have a truth about change and resposibility. And definitley made me laugh again and again.

This book is about a Wisconsin farmgirl who spends a summer training the quarterback from her rival high school. The main character is funny, sweet, unique, and utterly loveable.

I also enjoyed reading about life on a farm and football.

I stayed up way too late finishing the book because the main character was so compelling I had to find out what would happen. Would she get the boy she loved? Repair the rifts in her family? Talk to her former best friend again? The ending did not disappoint.

This will definitely be one of my favorite young adult novels of 2006.

Fifteen-year-old D.J. Schwenk wants more than anything not to be a cow. Cows just "go along doing what they're supposed to do without complaining or even really noticing, until they die." And if anyone should know about cows, it's D.J. Schwenk. D.J. has pretty much been running her family's Wisconsin farm for the past six months. Her father has a back injury, her mother works full-time as a teacher/temporary principal, her two older brothers are away playing football at college, and her younger brother Curtis is too young and mute to take control. There's no one else to run the farm but D.J.

So, despite the fact that she's a high school girl, D.J. finds herself spreading manure, bailing hay, and milking cows daily. At the start of summer, she gets an unexpected helper. Jimmy Ott, an old friend of the family who also happens to coach the neighboring town's football team, sends over Brian Nelson, his team's quarterback, to assist the Schwenks. Now, the Schwenk family is good at two things in the world:
farming and football. D.J.'s older brothers, Win and Bill, were the stars of Red Bend's teams. Her father used to coach and names all his cows after football players and managers.

Brian Nelson is "the very worst that a lazy, stuck-up, spoiled Hawley quarterback could be." Despite the fact that D.J. desperately needs help on the farm, she's not sure if she's so desperate as to want his help. And then, Coach Jimmy Ott has an even crazier idea. Since D.J. knows so much about football herself, maybe she could be Brian's summer trainer. Although Brian and D.J. both find the idea insane at first, they agree to try it out.

D.J. and Brian have a very heated relationship. What starts out as annoyance with one another turns into friendship. Talking to Brian makes D.J. see things about herself and her family that she never realized before. Brian comments how D.J. doesn't say too much and keeps her thoughts and feelings locked inside. D.J. realizes that her entire family is like this. Her brother Curtis is so mute that the teachers at school keep giving him tests to make sure he's not disabled. And her parents had a huge fight with her brothers and haven't talked to them for months. (Or so she thinks.)

Talking to Brian makes D.J. vow not to be a cow. She's tired of keeping the true D.J. locked up. And what does the true D.J. want to do? In true Schwenk nature, of course, she wants to play football on her high school team. Little does she realize the ruckus that will ensue when she follows her heart.

DAIRY QUEEN is a wonderful first novel from author Catherine Gilbert Murdock. D.J.'s unique voice makes the story engaging and fresh. Not only is D.J. a highly likable character, her wry wit and humor make her a tomboy with heart and a great heroine for the YA genre. The Schwenk family life is at times heartbreaking, but is so realistic that I can't believe the author isn't really a football-playing farm girl from Wisconsin.

--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson