Oh, man, this book was so fantastic. D. J. is a fascinating and unique heroine for any genre, not just YA, and from my perspective, rural Wisconsin is more exotic than the Eastern hemisphere. This book manages to be about football, and farming, and friendship, and a fractured family, and D. J.'s personal growth all at once. |
At its core, Dairy Queen is a book about a girl who learns to, as the book puts it, not be a cow: to do things for her own sake instead of just because she's supposed to, or because someone told her to. Every other plotline is in service of D. J.'s character development, and that's just the way it should be. Dairy Queen shows us where parts of D. J.'s life intersect and blur, whether it's her growing confidence as represented by her willingness to reach out to her brother or her yearning to be acknowledged like her brothers have been intersecting with her love of football.
Even D..J.'s romance with Brian fits in seamlessly with the rest of the novel. Brian acts like a catalyst, the first person to show D. J. how prescribed her life is, and romance is just one example of how D. J. could have so much more. Her relationship with Brian is the connecting thread that ties the book together. He's our introduction to the farm, the person who reminds D. J. how good she is at football, the person who points out the cracks in D. J.'s family and her love interest at the same time.
Mostly, though, Dairy Queen shines because of D. J. herself. She's stubborn and hard-working, an athlete and a farmer with pride in her physical abilities and endurance but a multitude of insecurities about her intellect and looks. I like how she's slow at figuring things out and bad at talking. I like how she's not conventionally feminine, but still worries like any other teenage girl. One of my favorite parts is the part where she cuts her hair short and marvels at how good it looks: not exactly vanity, but, like any other adolescent (male or female) D. J. wants to be nice-looking, and Dairy Queen never criticizes her for that. I like D. J. in general, for her flaws and her strengths and the way she manages to change.
Is this a perfect book? Not exactly. I'm not entirely happy with the LGBT supporting character, who gets a happy ending but not much significant closure, and while I liked the pacing, other readers might be less happy about the slow start and lack of romantic resolution. Though I am a total sucker for "girl-gets-to-do-things" novels and well-done coming of age, even if you're not, read Dairy Queen anyway.
Rating: Five out of five? Loved it.
Turd rating: One out of five. Her dad's kind of a douche.
Even D..J.'s romance with Brian fits in seamlessly with the rest of the novel. Brian acts like a catalyst, the first person to show D. J. how prescribed her life is, and romance is just one example of how D. J. could have so much more. Her relationship with Brian is the connecting thread that ties the book together. He's our introduction to the farm, the person who reminds D. J. how good she is at football, the person who points out the cracks in D. J.'s family and her love interest at the same time.
Mostly, though, Dairy Queen shines because of D. J. herself. She's stubborn and hard-working, an athlete and a farmer with pride in her physical abilities and endurance but a multitude of insecurities about her intellect and looks. I like how she's slow at figuring things out and bad at talking. I like how she's not conventionally feminine, but still worries like any other teenage girl. One of my favorite parts is the part where she cuts her hair short and marvels at how good it looks: not exactly vanity, but, like any other adolescent (male or female) D. J. wants to be nice-looking, and Dairy Queen never criticizes her for that. I like D. J. in general, for her flaws and her strengths and the way she manages to change.
Is this a perfect book? Not exactly. I'm not entirely happy with the LGBT supporting character, who gets a happy ending but not much significant closure, and while I liked the pacing, other readers might be less happy about the slow start and lack of romantic resolution. Though I am a total sucker for "girl-gets-to-do-things" novels and well-done coming of age, even if you're not, read Dairy Queen anyway.
Rating: Five out of five? Loved it.
Turd rating: One out of five. Her dad's kind of a douche.