The grade that I chose for the novel, Dairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, is a “B”. It is centered around the 15-year-old girl, D.J., who lives on a farm in Wisconsin. In summer, she shows no clemency when forced into training a football player named Brian. They become friends, and D.J. develops feelings for Brian. A part of her struggle is that she’d been a star athlete, but when her father is injured, she has to take over the responsibilities of their farm. Her older brothers are legends at her school, and both play college football so later, she tries out for her high school football team. When pre-season is about to start, her best friend, Amber, walks in on a waterfight between D.J. and Brian. D.J., and they have a discrepancy.
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It reads very similar to a diary. It’s told in past tense, as DJ, our narrator, reflects on all that has occurred to lead up to the injuring of her father’s hip. Often in between recalling events, she steps back for a moment and paints a picture of her feelings so that he reader can truly understand and relate to whichever plight or decision she’s describing. ☺ Metaphor. There’s a section in the book which is really like a diary, when she lets her feelings of Brian poor out, “I milked, of course, and did some work around the barn, and tried not to think about Brian, which was like trying not to breathe” (Murdock 147). Her writing is not awfully sophisticated, and is very descriptive- but that is not what is most important about this particular quote. D.J. describes how thinking about Brian is a natural movement for her, as natural as breathing. This is powerful because the act of breathing is an action that is necessary for life, which would mean that Brian is nearly imperative to her for survival. What a deep relationship.
Finally, Dairy Queen is interesting and sometimes leaves intriguing cliffhangers, but just isn’t written in a completely and consistently alluring way. When reading, it is typical for one to feel as if they are searching for an answer to a question or for an argumentative point. This novel lacks such an adventure. Main
It reads very similar to a diary. It’s told in past tense, as DJ, our narrator, reflects on all that has occurred to lead up to the injuring of her father’s hip. Often in between recalling events, she steps back for a moment and paints a picture of her feelings so that he reader can truly understand and relate to whichever plight or decision she’s describing. ☺ Metaphor. There’s a section in the book which is really like a diary, when she lets her feelings of Brian poor out, “I milked, of course, and did some work around the barn, and tried not to think about Brian, which was like trying not to breathe” (Murdock 147). Her writing is not awfully sophisticated, and is very descriptive- but that is not what is most important about this particular quote. D.J. describes how thinking about Brian is a natural movement for her, as natural as breathing. This is powerful because the act of breathing is an action that is necessary for life, which would mean that Brian is nearly imperative to her for survival. What a deep relationship.
Finally, Dairy Queen is interesting and sometimes leaves intriguing cliffhangers, but just isn’t written in a completely and consistently alluring way. When reading, it is typical for one to feel as if they are searching for an answer to a question or for an argumentative point. This novel lacks such an adventure. Main