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Monday, November 23, 2009

Front and Center - Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This is the third book in the Dairy Queen series, and as is typical for most series I read, when I love the first one, I'm often lukewarm on the second and then I have to decide whether to read the third. This time I decided to go for it, and I am really glad I did! I liked this one a lot.

DJ Schwenk is growing up, and she's still wants to blend into the woodwork as much as possible, but it's not very possible...not at all. Because really, DJ's been a football star, had a bad break-up with a boy she really liked, and had a superstar brother become paralyzed in a football injury. Living in a small town, things like this make hiding nearly impossible. Add to this that her goofy friend Beaner wants to date her and isn't afraid to announce it in front of everyone, and that her coach is pressuring her to be more of a leader on the basketball court, and it's clear that DJ Schwenk won't be hiding this year.

She can't hide from her brother, either, even though he's far away and in a rehabilitation center. He's calling her constantly asking her about college and playing basketball. DJ Doesn't want to really even think about it that much, and she darn sure doesn't want to play at a big school where the pressure is insanely intense, but some other people have different ideas.

There's a lot of introspection in this story. DJ spends a lot of time thinking, about both her present and her future. And she's learning a lot about herself - what she's capable of, what she wants, what she doesn't want. It's a nice finish to this trilogy, although I'm kind of disappointed it's the end. You never know, though, stranger things have happened, and perhaps we'll see a return of DJ later on. We'll just have to wait and see.

I've ordered this for our library, so we'll have it soon, but in the meantime you can find it at the Multnomah County Library.

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