Dairy Queen
From AwardAnnals
 | |
| Author(s) | Catherine Gilbert Murdock |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | A Novel |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
| Honors | |
| 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. | |
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.
Reviews
Barnes and Noble
Our booksellers are raving about Dairy Queen, Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s terrific debut novel for teens. This wryly written story features the unforgettable D. J. Schwenk, a football-loving 15-year-old who takes over the chores on her family’s small Wisconsin dairy farm when her dad is sidelined by an injury. Like the rest of the tongue-tied Schwenks, D.J. is not much of a talker. Then she meets Brian, a snooty quarterback assigned to her for football training, and she finally learns to speak her mind. Murdock gives D.J. a pitch-perfect teenage voice: self-effacing and endearingly confused. With its unusual setting and a story line both hilarious and touching, Dairy Queen is as promising a YA debut as any we’ve seen.
