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Summary and Reviews of Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Dairy Queen

by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
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  • First Published:
  • May 22, 2006, 278 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jun 2007, 278 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

A well-written story written in a pitch-perfect teenage voice. D. J. Schwenk is an unforgettable character: A football-loving 15-year-old who takes over running her family's small Wisconsin dairy farm when her dad is injured. Like the rest of her family, she is not much of a talker - but when she meets Brian, a snooty quarterback assigned to her for football training, she finally learns to speak her mind.

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.

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.

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.

Excerpt
Dairy Queen

This whole enormous deal wouldn’t have happened, none of it, if Dad hadn’t messed up his hip moving the manure spreader. Some people laugh at that, like Brian did. The first time I said Manure Spreader he bent in half, he was laughing so hard. Which would have been hilariously funny except that it wasn’t. I tried to explain how important a manure spreader is, but it only made him laugh harder, in this really obnoxious way he has sometimes, and besides, you’re probably laughing now too. So what. I know where your milk comes from, and your hamburgers.

I’ll always remember the day it all started because Joe Namath was so sick. Dad names all his cows after football players. It’s pretty funny, actually, going to the 4-H fair, where they list the cows by farm and name. Right there next to “Happy Valley Buttercup” is “Schwenk Walter Payton,” because none of my grandpas or great-grandpas could ...

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

D.J. is a heroine to root for - funny, intelligent, independent and self-deprecating. We thoroughly recommend Dairy Queen, the first of a planned trilogy, to teenage girls - and if the occasional boy could bring himself to read it, firstly he might enjoy it, and secondly he would glean more about the female psyche than he'll learn from any number of locker room discussions!..continued

Full Review (357 words)

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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).

Media Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
A painfully funny novel....a fresh teen voice, great football action and cows - this novel rocks.

School Library Journal
[A] sweet confection of a first novel, as enjoyable as any treat from the real DQ.

VOYA
One of the wisest, richest, most poignant books this reviewer has seen all season.

Booklist - Jennifer Hubert
This humorous, romantic romp excels at revealing a situation seldom explored in YA novels, and it will quickly find its place alongside equally well-written stories set in rural areas,

Reader Reviews

Ahriel washington

Amazing, and inspiring
I love this book, I honestly think it was inspiring.
Jennifer Chang

Great Book
I loved this book. In the beginning it didn't seem to interesting, until I got half way through the book, it started to get better and better. I loved the ending of this book, and I would recommend this to others who likes football, and romance books...   Read More
Abby Nopoulos

Dairy QUEEN, Indeed!
It was a good book that kept me thinking. I found myself smiling, frowning, and at some points, in udder shock! Get it? Udder! Haha but it was a very good book. Good for teen girls. :D
yoyoma

Dairy Queen
This book is great! I like how DJ decides to take a risk in trying out for football. Lots of suspense!

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Beyond the Book



Though she never played high school football or milked cows, Catherine Gilbert Murdock is a big fan of family farms and Wisconsin. She herself grew up on a tiny farm (two goats and honeybees) in Connecticut, and attended Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania. She now lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband, two children, and Sparky the cat. Dairy Queen is her first novel.  Interview & biography at BookBrowse.

Did you know?  
Catherine's sister is Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love.

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