VVMBookBlog

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Steven has a younger brother, Jeffrey, who at times can be annoying like many younger siblings. For example, Jeffrey is always complaining about aches and pains while he asks Steven to make him “moatmeal” (oatmeal). Even though Steven is helping his brother, Jeffrey falls off of a kitchen stool and gets a bloody nose. A hospital visit is next; then the bad news begins. Jeffrey has cancer. One might think the stress would be on Jeffrey and his parents, but Steven also has difficulites (homework, girls, drum lessons, Jeffrey, etc.). Mrs. Galley, the school counselor, gives Steven some advice, ” Instead of agonizing over things you can’t change, why don’t you try working on the things you can change?” This is, of course, “easier said than done.” Anyone can relate to and enjoy some aspect (or all aspects) of this book. This is the second Jordan Sonnenblick novel I’ve read this summer. I would highly recommend both!!

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

D.J. is a fifteen year old girl who has spent her entire life around two things, football and cows. In fact, football is a big part of her family. Two of her brothers are away at college playing football. Even the cows on the family farm are named after football players. Even though D.J. is a girl, she has spent most of her life playing with her brothers. This summer a rival coach has asked her to train his quarterback. This is complicated for several reasons: he is on the rival team, he was mean to her brother, he is rich, he blames everyone else, he is kind of lazy. The coach, however, is a family friend and D.J. takes the challenge.

Although it seems like only a book about football, Dairy Queen also addresses some other major teenage issues. D.J. seems to do all the work on the farm, and this doesn’t help her family relations. She has also flunked English which does not sit too well with her mom who is acting principal. As the summer progresses, she learns more about friends (boy and girl), her family, and most importantly herself. This book is set on a farm which was a bit weird at first, but it is definitely a great read.

From Ms. Childs: LOVED this book! (No, I really don’t say that about all books!)

It takes place in Wisconsin, so the whole dairy farm setting is a natural. I was born in Wisconsin, and it wasn’t until I grew up, graduated from high school AND college, and went into the Army that I realized people from Wisconsin (and Minnesota!) often have an accent. (The rest of the world realized this when the movie Fargo came out.) Anyway, I listened to this book on audio CD in the car as I was driving through Wisconsin. How fitting! AND…the actress reading this book on the CD had the most perfect Wisconsin accent, and the way she read the story and gave the characters their own Wisconsin “twang” really made the book for me.

But the story is great, too. There is so much to it with all the things happening to D.J. and her family, and all the thoughts about talking out problems with people/family, and not always doing what people expect us to do. It’s a first book for the author–Catherine Murdock–who seems to know so much about football, diary farming and life in Wisconsin, even though from her website, she’s from Connecticut and was never a great athlete.

Check this one out to have a laugh, or maybe a cry, to make you think about your life or the life of someone close to you.