Dairy Queen

Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Published 2006

275 Pages

Rating: B+

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Harsh words indeed, from Brian Nelson of all people. But, D. J. can’t help admitting, maybe he’s right.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Stuff like why her best friend, Amber, isn’t so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Why her mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why her college-football-star brothers won’t even call home. Why her dad would go ballistic if she tried out for the high school football team herself. And why Brian is so, so out of her league.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D. J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

(taken from BN.com)

First off, I would like to say that I live in Wisconsin, so I appreciate this book. No...I dont live on a dairy farm, and no, I dont even live on a farm in general. But I appreciate this book, because it is so cute and makes living in Wisconsin kinda seem like fun.. ha.

D.J. is living in a small town in Wisconsin, she lives on a dairy farm where she does most of the work, thanks to her father's hip problem, her two older brothers being away, and her younger brother having the spotlight on his baseball team. Her mother works at a school, but she cant help either. So its up to D.J. to keep their farm running, she does the milking right when she gets up in the morning and once in the evening. In between all that she is bailing hay, driving the tractor, mowing the lawn, or trying to keep her social life in tact. It is hard finding time to spend with her best friend Amber, especially since she had to quit Basketball just to work on the farm. Now that it is summer, she is hoping to get her life back, but her dads hip isnt getting any better, so she still must find the strength to do the farm work. She would love for someone to help her out, but when it is an unsuspecting source that starts to help her, she gets into a big mix of feelings.

Brian Nelson is from Hawley, the rival of D.J.'s high school, Red Bend. They have been rival's ever since D.J.'s grandpa had lived in her house. Red Bend almost always loses at football against Hawley, so D.J. is less than happy when Brian ends up working for her on the farm. Its all part of the plan though, Brian's coach has instructed him to work for D.J., but also for D.J. to train Brian, since she knows so much about football. Her dad, brothers, and even herself played football. As the summer progresses, Brian gets better at football, and so does she. But they also form a very cute relationship. They dont have a lot of mushy-gushy things between them, but watching them grow as people and grow into their own skin, is very fun to read.

Towards the end of the book I was kinda shocked where it went, I don't want to give anything away since it is somewhat of a big shocker, but it was also very cool. And I liked the ending a lot. D.J. finds out a lot about herself, but also her younger brother Curtis who doesn't talk much. It was wonderful reading D.J. grow up and actually taking control of her own life, instead of being controlled by her parents and other people.

I think the title is so cute and fits perfectly with this story, and the cover is interesting. There are two covers, but this is the one I chose to put in the post, because cows are cute! And it gives you a sense of what the story is kind of about. I really enjoyed this book and I am super excited to read The Off Season, the sequel to this book, and then the threequel (thats a word, right!?) to that, Front & Center. :)

I always seem to have very jumbled up reviews, but hopefully they aren't super boring or annoying to read! Sometimes I just dont know what to say about a book, especially if I don't want to give anything away!

-Arielle