Young Adult Literature without Apology

Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.

Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Murdock, Catherine (2006). Dairy Queen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0618683070.

D.J. Schwenk is the strong, silent type; since her brothers left for college and her father had an accident that compromised his ability to walk, D.J. has been maintaining the family farm almost single- handedly. Though keeping the farm running involves getting up before dawn to milk the family's herd of cows, heavy lifting in the barn and in the field, and a second evening milking, D.J. hasn't complained at all; in her family, silence rules. When a family friend sends the quarterback from the opposing school's football team over to the Schwenk's to work for the summer, D.J. offers her services as a sports trainer. Because she spent most of her childhood fielding passes from her older brothers (now star college athletes) and training alongside them, her expertise has been established. As she and Brian (the quarterback) forge a hesitant friendship, D.J. starts to think about her family's tendency not to speak about personal difficulty and compares them all (herself included) to cows led unquestioning from one place to the next. When she decides to try out for her school's football team--she's been training beside Brian all summer, so why not--her friendship with Brian and her place in the family is challenged.

This first novel from Murdock really defied my expectations. The cover art and the script-like font describing the title led me to believe that, in spite of its premise, this would be a more "girly" read. The narrative is much quieter and less hyperbolic than the mild chick-lit I thought I'd encounter; in fact, I'd probably compare this to Will Leitch's 2005 Catch, a similarly sports-concerned novel set in the midwest. In spite of the low-key narrative, the story is compelling and engaging; D.J. is a likeable and plain-spoken character who made this novel a surprise pleasure.