Front and Center (The Dairy Queen Trilogy) [Hardcover]

Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Dairy Queen Trilogy | Publication Date: October 19, 2009

Football season may be over, but basketball is about to begin, and if D.J. thinks she can escape the attention—and the pressure—her star power brings, she is mistaken.

 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
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...

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Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Catherine Murdock

Dear Amazon Reader:

The Dairy Queen series began with a dream and ends with a pizza.

In late 2003, I had a dream about a girl playing football. As I'd been studying screenwriting for eight years, I immediately began to craft this idea into a script. Then, all too aware of my script failure rate, I decided to attempt a "practice novel" using everything I'd learned about character development, plotting, dialogue, and description. Today, I can offer aspiring authors this hard-earned advice: If you want to write halfway decent books, start by writing truly horrendous screenplays.

I set Dairy Queen in Wisconsin, as I have family there and so can visualize the landscape, and I laid it out as a traditional three-act script, the only story structure I knew. I never intended to write a second book--I really love the vagueness of Dairy Queen’s ending--but when the publisher asked if I had a sequel in me, what could I answer but "Yes"? I love The Off Season's ending as well, but readers (may I mention how utterly fantastic the fan mail is?) wanted more. So--boom--I found myself writing a third. All of a sudden I had a trilogy.

Given what I'd learned about college sports recruiting from the first two books, it seemed only natural to examine this in Front and Center, while of course continuing the saga of D.J. Schwenk's love life. So many stories have as their conflict "Will the hero(ine) get the scholarship? Will s/he get the love interest?" And of course you already know the answers on page 1. To me, a much more challenging story, both to read and to write, would be "Does she want a scholarship? And which love interest will be it be: the dreamboat who keeps breaking her heart, or the safe, fun guy who's not quite Mr. Right?" Call me old fashioned, but I like a little mystery in my narrative. Which is why I'm also not going to tell you how the pizza fits in. But it does. Really.

Sincerely,

Catherine Murdock

(Photo © Greg Martin)

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From School Library Journal

Grade 8–11—This final installment in the "Dairy Queen" trilogy kicks off with Wisconsin junior D.J. Schwenk back at school, having spent several weeks away helping big brother, Win, with his rehabilitation. She's catching up with classes and best friend Amber (also newly returned). D.J.'s excited and nervous for basketball season, which might score her a much-desired college scholarship and a less-desired position literally calling the shots on court. Her ex, Brian, is neither out of sight nor off her mind. But reluctantly famous D.J., who generally craves anonymity, wants a boyfriend who acknowledges her in public. Enter energetic friend Beaner, an attention magnet interested in actual dating. When recruitment letters pour in, talented athlete D.J. feels the weight of obligations and expectations (yet again) from well-meaning family, friends, recruiters, coaches, and from herself. Will she be ruled by fear or will she step up and make the choices, whether between colleges or guys, that'll make her happiest? The self-conscious teen is socially anxious, hyper aware, and cleverly observant. Her fans won't be disappointed, but new readers may occasionally feel out of the loop, compelled to read the prequels for a more invested experience. Fortunately, Murdock successfully integrates fresh trials and pressures, well-developed primary and likable peripheral characters, and amusing introspection into the backstory. Occasional doormat D.J. is ultimately a responsible, realistically flawed, funny, endearing, and strong heroine worth rooting for whether on the court or on the page—Danielle Serra, Cliffside Park Public Library, NJ END

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 1 edition (October 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618959823
• ISBN-13: 978-0618959822
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Catherine Gilbert Murdock lives in Philadelphia with her husband, two brilliant, unicycling children, several cats, and a one-acre yard that she is slowly transforming into a wee but flourishing ecosystem.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars D.J. Schwenk, Quiet Star, September 20, 2009

By 

K. Coombs (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Front and Center (The Dairy Queen Trilogy) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I happily set aside my usual diet of books about witches, shapechangers, and dragons when it comes to Catherine Murdock's YA novels about D.J. Schwenk. I'm also the kid that used to get hit in the head by the ball in any number of sports with names ending in -ball, but who cares? A good book is a good book, and the D.J. Schwenk books are very, very good: Dairy Queen, The Off Season, and now Front and Center.

D.J. is a tall, big-boned girl and a gifted athlete from a family of gifted athletes, but her family is not known for its communication skills. They aren't stupid, they're just not talkers. Her two older brothers are talented college football players. Her younger brother is athletic, too, though he talks so little that his teachers worry about him. In Dairy Queen, the coach of a rival high school sends his spoiled rich-boy quarterback to help out on the Schwenk farm, where D.J. is doing all of the work alone because her father has broken his hip. D.J. ends up coaching Brian Nelson in football, while he coaches her on the advantages of talking more. In The Off Season, D.J. plays high school football, and she and Brian begin to get closer. But D.J. realizes that Brian is ashamed to be seen in public with her. A lot of other things go wrong, but none of them seem to matter much when D.J.'s older brother Win suffers a very serious injury playing football. She drops everything to stand by him, coaching and cajoling him through rehab.

In this third book, Front and Center, we find that although D.J. has learned to open up more thanks to her now-defunct relationship with Brian, she is still not the type to take center stage. As she returns to playing high school basketball, she realizes that's exactly what her coach expects her to do: become a leader for the team. Heavily recruited by college basketball coaches, D.J. finds that everyone around her is pushing her to verbally commit to playing Big Ten college ball. But she pulls back, afraid she can't take the pressure. Meanwhile, she is dating her buddy Beaner, although she still finds herself thinking about Brian Nelson. Even as D.J. leans toward playing for a smaller college team, life and the people who care about her conspire to convince her that she's got too much going for her to settle for less--whether in dating or in basketball.

I cannot emphasize enough how authentic D.J.'s narrative voice is. Sometimes in YA, we meet an endless parade of main characters who seem to be channeling terribly clever urban 30-somethings with their banter and sarcasm. In contrast, D.J. is such a fresh combination of ordinary and extraordinary, the way real girls are, the ones you walk past every day. Listen to her frank and slightly funny voice at the beginning of Front and Center, when she mistakenly thinks she's going to able to stay out of the limelight and avoid trouble, including boys:

"But most of all--and this is what I was looking forward to the very, very most--I was done with all that boyfriend crap. Finished with the 24/7 Brian Nelson cable station that had been running nonstop inside my skull since July. No more feeling like I was some fluttery girl who doesn't have anything better to do all day long than think about her boyfriend. Because I did have better things to think about, thank you very much, because I am not the kind of girl who has boyfriends; I'm the kind who's just friends with boys, which is totally different and which I'm actually kind of good at. I'd pulled the plug on that Brian Nelson cable station for good.

That's why it felt so nice to be getting back to school. Because after five months I was back to being plain old background D.J. That's how I thought about it, anyway. In photographs of course I'm always in the background--it's a family joke, actually, that us Schwenk kids could go to school naked on picture day because we're all so crazy tall. But I mean that I was returning to the background of life. Where no one would really notice me or talk about me or even talk to me much except to say 'Nice shot,' and I could just hang out without too many worries at all."

It's a real gift to be able to watch D.J. struggle to grow into herself in Dairy Queen, The Off Season, and now Front and Center. Catherine Murdock is so adept that she even manages to let us know that D.J. will probably end up being an incredible basketball coach in ten or fifteen years. But this and other messages, such as the cow metaphor used so well in Dairy Queen, never call unnecessary attention to themselves. Which reminds me of D.J.'s own self-effacing style. Even so, D.J., the messages, and these three books still manage to shine. Read them, please. You will be very glad you got to know D.J. Schenk.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm sad it's over!, November 19, 2009

By 

Tabitha (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Front and Center (The Dairy Queen Trilogy) (Hardcover)

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I loved Dairy Queen and The Off Season. DJ Schwenk is such an amazing character, and it's not because she's supergirl. It's because she's NOT.

DJ is starting the basketball season of her junior year, eager to get back to how things used to be before her relationship with Brian Nelson was exposed to the world - thus exposing her to the world. She'd like to get back to the background, thankyouverymuch, and had every intention of doing so. That is, until she walks into her coach's office right before the season begins.

This book is funny, light, and incredibly loveable. Her family is just as quirky as ever, her relationship with Brian Nelson is still weird, and she's still just as good at sports as she ever was. What's different? It's time for DJ to step forward and officially become what she's always been - a leader.

I loved how DJ 'coached' Brian in Dairy Queen. And I loved how DJ made Win see how important he was, even if he couldn't walk. These are traits of a leader, and yet DJ never stepped into that role. But in order for her to do what she wants, which is to leave Red Bend and see other parts of the world, that's exactly what she has to do. Front and Center is a wonderful story of DJ's journey, showing her dealing with her many faults, and seeing her step up to face her ultimate fear: the spotlight.

I have loved watching DJ grow into herself in this trilogy - since she's so big, it was a lot to grow into. :) I will miss DJ...

While this book isn't as strong as Dairy Queen, it's still a great book. This is definitely a good read for boys or girls, for teens of any age. Highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Likable Lead Character, September 13, 2009

By 

Ken C. (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Front and Center (The Dairy Queen Trilogy) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

DJ Schwenk, the likable lead in the DAIRY QUEEN trilogy anchored by this new release, is the type of girl anyone would love to call a daughter, sister, friend, student, or player. Well-rounded, intelligent, diligent, helpful, caring, athletic -- DJ has it all. This book lacks the freshness of the first, where readers were treated to a Wisconsin dairy farmer's daughter who had the gumption not only to play boys' football in high school, but to fall in love with the arch-rival school's quarterback. It also gets off to a slow start. But eventually, FRONT AND CENTER rights itself and closes strong and suitably, ending Catherine Gilbert Murdock's trilogy in a manner that should more than satisfy fans of the first two books.

FRONT AND CENTER's chief narrative concerns are DJ's love life and her college choice. She starts to see a clownish boy named Beaner because Beaner makes her happy and helps her forget Brian. But then Brian re-enters the picture, and it's hard to forget a boy when he keeps showing up in your kitchen, your barn, and your thoughts night and day. Meantime, the Division I colleges are aggressively courting DJ due to her basketball prowess. Trouble is, thoughts of playing on a big stage make her stomach ill. She's convinced that she'd rather be a big fish in a Division III bowl.

Despite the sluggish start and plot devices (see above) that are not exactly bracing, character carries the day. Murdock also uses humor to her advantage. For example, in a discussion between DJ and Brian about playing D-I ball, we have this exchange:

"Do you know how many people watch D-I? I'd barf my guts out if I had to do that."

"That's not a good reason not to do it, though."

"Yeah, it is! People can die from barfing, like that thing you get when you're pregnant and you throw up so much that you die..."

"No one dies from barfing, not anymore. They have IVs now and stuff."

"Like I'm going to go out on the court with an IV."

"Huh... Would knocking over an IV pole be considered an offensive foul?"

"Oh, totally. But you could use the pole to set one heck of a screen -- "

"Uh-uh. Six inches max between player and pole."

This dialogue typifies the light spirit of the book. Overall, if you've read the first two books, you may find this weaker but should still enjoy it for that "loose strings pulled together" feeling. And if you haven't read any of Murdock's stuff, by all means go back and read DAIRY QUEEN. It's as fun and wholesome as a tall glass of milk.