Dairy Queen
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

    DAIRY QUEEN by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  5/07
    Publisher:  Graphia
    Reviewed by:  Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen
    Rating:  5 Stars


    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!