Dairy Queen

Emily

English Period 4

September 16, 2009

Dairy Queen

I chose to write a blog about Dairy Queen a book by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.  The reason I chose this book is because when I first began reading it I wasn't into it at all but as I started to read more I was hooked. I was given this book by mom, who picked it out for me as a Hanukkah present. She always seems to pick out the books with interesting covers and titles and so far that has worked out.  In this situation the book didn't sound appealing at first but you have to trust a mothers instinct.

The main characters in this book are fifteen-year-old D.J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, Brian Nelson Quarterback for Hawley High School and rivals of Red Bend, Amber who is best friends with D.J. and her little brother Curtis Schwenk.  The Schwenk family owns a dairy farm in Red Bend that D.J. does most of the work. One day the Hawley High School coach Jimmy Ott, long time friend of the Schwenks, asks if he could have his star quarterback Brian Nelson help out on the farm. Well, right away D.J and Brian get off to a bad start but as they find more in common such as football they find it easier to be around each other. As well as working on the farm D.J. helps Brian train for football season but discovers some things about Brian and herself along the way.  Maybe there is a reason why her little brother Curtis never talks and her older brothers never come home to visit, or why her only friend is Amber and why Brian Nelson might not seem so bad.

D.J Schwenk says the quote that I find most interesting, " When you don't talk there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said." D.J. doesn't like to talk about her feelings and that is the way her family is as well. She always says how the Schenks deal with things is by not saying anything and hoping it will blow over in a few days or weeks but sometimes it could take months. I feel this quote demonstrates how D.J. feels about her family and the life she lives where she has a lot to say but no one to say it to.

The rating system I developed is: One milk bottle represents that the book was okay but I wouldn't recommend it. Two milk bottles represents the book was good but I wouldn't read it again. Three milk bottles represents that the book overall was good but there were parts that were really boring. Four milk bottles represents that the book was good at the beginning but towards the end I couldn't put it down and I would recommend it. Five milk bottles represents that the book was amazing and I could never put it down and I would read it over again. I give my book four out of five milk bottles because I wasn't into the book at the beginning but as the book progressed I found it more interesting and I couldn't put it down. For my rating system I am using milk bottles because the Scwenk family owns a dairy farm, so I thought it would be a good idea to use this image. 

 

              Three reasons I would recommend this book are, it is very realistic and has a mix of athleticism and romance, the characters and the plot of the story are very interesting, and the book shows what it is like to balance so many things such as school, sports, boys, and work.  I would recommend this book to girls between the ages of eleven and fifteen. Warning there is some adult content and language. I would recommend this book to readers who like books about people's lives and their struggles and thoughts. There is no mystery, no action or adventure but there is a great story if you look behind the pages.

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Emily