Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock

I think it’s been about fifteen years since I read an entire book in a single day. And it’s hard to believe with everything going on right now, but today I read Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock. I started around 11:00 this morning, and just finished it. Of course, I haven’t been reading it continuously for nine hours. I was, in fact, at work.

Today was the first day of our three-day moving sale extravaganza. We are opening the doors to our office and hoping that people will come to buy every thing that is left—from books (at only $5 per hardcover and $2.50 per paperback) to bookcases (ranging from $5 to $50), to desks and chairs. To couches and refrigerators. To stuffed Eeyores and Paddingtons.

I was initially afraid no one would show up, but at 10:00 on the dot, two librarians were already waiting to come in. And then there was a pretty steady stream of shoppers all morning. Everyone seemed to enjoy browsing the books so much that I didn’t have much to do at the cash register until someone wanted to check out. So I read.

It’s a testament to how good a book Dairy Queen was that I was able to just read and read, stop to ring up a customer, then continue reading without wandering off to do something else. Every single moment of the book held my interest, and so many different strands of D.J.’s life and her thoughts became entangled with my own that I was caught.

From School Library Journal:

After her father is injured, 15-year-old D.J. Schwenk takes over the lion's share of work on her family's small Wisconsin dairy farm. Between milking cows, mucking out the barn, and mowing clover, this erstwhile jock takes on training Brian, the rival high school's quarterback. A monster crush and a tryout for her own school's football team ensue. D.J., a charming if slightly unreliable narrator, does a good deal of soul-searching while juggling her grinding work schedule, an uncommunicative family, and a best friend who turns out to be gay.

Dairy Queen reminds me of an old, old book I first read when I was in high school by Ann Rinaldi called Term Paper. I have since looked for it, but I think it’s out of print now. However, I still have my original copy, which is so tattered that it’s almost falling apart. While the specifics of each girl’s situation is different, and the issues they are dealing with are different, the two main characters have so much in common that it’s spooky. I love it. Term Paper was one of my favorite YA novels of my own youth, and now Dairy Queen takes its place as one of my favorite in adulthood.

The moving sale will last through the weekend, so if you live in the Bay Area stop by and say hello. The address is 40951 Fremont Blvd. in Fremont, and I’ll be there between 10:00 and 5:00 Saturday and Sunday. I can’t wait to pick the book I’ll bring to work tomorrow. I still can’t believe it—I finally get a chance to read all day, and it’s at work!

Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock