Review: Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

D.J. Schwenk, Book 3

Tags: YA, farming, basketball, college decisions, love, self-confidence

Rating: 5 out of 5


Summary

After the football fiasco and taking care of her older brother Win after his paralyzing accident, D.J. Schwenk is happy to settle back into a comfortable routine of playing basketball for her high school team in rural Red Bend, Wisconsin. But try as she might, she can’t entirely escape the limelight. D.J. has college decisions to make if she wants to get an athletic scholarship—and she really needs one to go to college. Problem is, colleges want leaders on the court, and D.J.’s never been one for speaking out.

D.J. also has troubles in matters of the heart. Her good friend Beaner asks her out, and she isn’t sure how to respond to this new treatment. Then, Brian Nelson comes back into her life, after breaking her heart and letting her down more times than she wants to count. Will D.J. learn to take some risks and step outside her comfort zone for a chance to attain happiness and self-achievement?

Review

After a lengthy detour into Win’s physical recovery, I very happily return to a D.J.-centered novel…and am far from disappointed. Indeed, I am utterly in love with FRONT AND CENTER. It is a perfectly written and sweet conclusion that won’t leave D.J. devotees disappointed.

It is a sign of great talent that an author can write a protagonist who is rather severely flawed in her thinking and self-concept, and yet is utterly lovable. D.J. has such low confidence in herself that you just want to beat her over the head with a stick and then give her a great big hug and a pep talk. D.J. is often infuriating, but she approaches everything with such a freshness that you cannot be angry at her. Instead, you will laugh with her, cry with her, and all throughout, cheer her on.

The power of the characters return in full force. The way D.J. narrates her story, there are no weak characters: everyone has a purpose and their own identity. All of the complex character development guarantees that you will fall in love with some, if not all, of them. Brian Nelson in particular is a sweetheart, and fans of him from the earlier books will appreciate his growth and maturation alongside D.J.’s.

The D.J. books contain remarkably authentic, yet relatable, details about situations involving rural living and sports. Even if you have no experience with either, D.J.’s candid and unassuming narration will make you fall right into her world and never want to come out. The particulars of both lifestyles are extraordinarily well researched, the in-school student dynamics realistic and relatable.

If you’re looking for a book containing a strong female protagonist, a contemporary story with equal parts excellent plotting and characterization, a sweet but not overbearing romance, tomboys, and lots of laughs, don’t hesitate to check out Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s books about D.J. Schwenk, starting with DAIRY QUEEN. I’m sad that the series has to end, but beyond satisfied at how Murdock elegantly ties everything together for a hopeful future. This is a series that should not be missed!

Similar Authors
Sarah Dessen
E. Lockhart
Libba Bray

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5


Houghton Mifflin / Oct. 19, 2009 / Hardcover / $16.00

Basically, if you don't read this series, I will be forced to hunt you down and ask, WHY???? WHY NOT???!!!

Waiting on Wednesday (18)

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

(a DJ Schwenk book)

After five months of sheer absolute craziness I was going back to being plain old background D.J. In photographs of course I’m always in the background . . .

But it turns out other folks have big plans for D.J. Like her coach. College scouts. All the town hoops fans. A certain Red Bend High School junior who’s keen for romance and karaoke. Not to mention Brian Nelson, who she should not be thinking about! Who she is done with, thank you very much. But who keeps showing up anyway . . .

If you couldn't tell already, I'm kind of in love with DJ Schwenk, in a non-romantic way. More as in, if I were a farmgirl living in the Midwest, DJ is who I'd want to be. So that's why I'm thrilled that--yay!--DJ's coming back! And we'll be able to read more about her and her family and the farm and Brian Nelson and football and more. Sweet. I can't wait!

Front and Center will be released by Houghton Mifflin in hardcover on October 19, 2009.

Superbowl Sunday Review!: Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Who are you rooting for? I always love rooting for the underdogs, so goooo Cardinals! hehe. It's funny cuz not many people in my life are football fans, but it's one of the few sports that I do enjoy watching. You can find me in front of a TV every year on the first Sunday night of February.

I also enjoy the commercials, of course. I learned that it costs $100,000 per second of airtime for a commercial. Per second! That's a mind-bogglingly large sum of money. Imagine how many books one could get with that... *dreams*

In keeping with the spirit of the day (you'll begin to notice that I'm always a fan of keeping with the spirits of the day), the following is a football-related review of a favorite book of mine.

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Tags: YA, farm, football

A cow. That’s what Brian Nelson calls D.J. Schwenk on the first day he works for their farm. D.J. is a cow because she does everything her injured but grumpy father tells her to do, which is basically to run the farm by herself, forced to give up her athletic passions along the way. Brian’s accusation may be harsh, even after he apologizes and they start becoming friends, but D.J. is forced to admit that what he said is true. Most people in the world, she realizes, simply do what they are expected to do, whether they know it or not.

And certainly a bigger group of cows there can not be than her own family, the Schwenks. They are poor and uncommunicative and repress their feelings when it would be better to speak up. As a result, D.J.’s older brothers don’t talk to the family anymore. Her mother hides away in her active principal’s office even during the summertime. Her younger brother Curtis speaks about once every blue moon, and her dad simply complains about D.J.’s faults without helping one bit.

The summer before her junior year certainly gives D.J. new things to think about. She’s stuck on Brian’s cow comment, for example, and how she can make herself stand out from the “herd.” She learns something shocking about her best friend Amber. Most of all, she’s experiencing a totally new emotion with Brian, who is popular, athletic (under her training, of course), smart, good-looking…everything she will never allow herself to hope for.

Maybe, however, junior year and her new decisions will make her life turn out a lot differently than what she expected.

DAIRY QUEEN was a joy to read! D.J.’s troubles may begin to sound like a soap opera after a while, but her down-to-earth farm-girl manner of talking keeps things fresh and interesting. D.J. may put herself down, but readers will not hesitate to want to befriend her, and to find out what happens in this great book’s sequel, THE OFF SEASON.

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