Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Synopsis:
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. Schwenk can't help admitting to herself that maybe he's right. Because it's obvious that no one is talking about why D.J.'s best friend, Amber, isn't so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Or why her mom has tow jobs and a bit secret, or why her college-football-star brothers won't even call home nowadays. And certainly no one is talking about ho D.J.'s dad would go ballistic on her if she tried out for the football team. There's definitely a lot no being said. And that's not even mentioning the many reason the Brian Nelson is so out of D.J.'s league. 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.

My Rating: 7/10

My Thoughts:
I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel. I'm always kind of hesitant to read these types of young adult books, these modern day coming-0f-age, finding yourself types. Instead I tend to stick to books with a bit more of a fantasy or dystopia element to them. Books with something going on besides every day life. However, this book was really entertaining to me. I liked the main character, I could relate to her love of sports, and found the dysfunction she was dealing with in her family very interesting to read about.

My biggest annoyance with the book, was that D.J. could avoid so much conflict if she just opened her mouth and explained things. So much of the drama between her and Brian would never have happened if she had told him when it happened, rather than letting him find out from another person. But even though I found this really annoying, it's kind of a major plot point in the story, D.J. learning to talk, so I don't really know how much I can complain about this. But it did really annoy me.

Overall, it was a really good, quick read. There are two more books in this series, reviews to follow soon.