Front and Center By: Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Title: Front and Center
Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
HARDBACK
Amount of Pages: 272
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Release Date: October 19, 2009
Geared Towards: Teens + Dairy Queen fans
Extra Info: This is the third and last book of the Dairy Queen trilogy. [List on bottom]
From: Library

"So I guess you could say that the weekend ended a lot better than it began, although that wasn't so hard, because when you're at the bottom all directions point up."

Summary: After several weeks of taking care of her brother, Win, D.J. Schwenk is finally (and she never thought she would say this) and thankfully back at school. School should be great, right? Her best friend, Amber, has finally returned, basketball season is finally kicking off and she's hoping to be able to score a good scholarship, and her ex, Brian has been totally forgotten. But things get a lot more complicated then she thought they would ever be. Her best bud, Beaner, super, excitable, attention-magnet, Beaner, has asked her out on a date (!!), an actual date date, not a buddies hanging around kinda date. College searching turns out to be way tougher then she ever expected and she really does not know if she can find her leadership skills on the court. And when Brian sneaks back into her life, D.J. has to ask herself, has she really forgotten him? Or will she be willing to risk getting her heart stomped on all over again, just for a chance to be with him?

Wdebo's Review: Yeah! D.J. is finally back for the last (sob) book in the Dairy Queen trilogy. I still remember waking up at 5 AM just to finish Dairy Queen when I was in 7th grade, that's how much I enjoyed it. D.J. has gone through a lot since then, from falling in and out then in love with Brian, playing football then basketball, and living with her newly-gay best friend being ostricized.

I love how in Dairy Queen it follows D.J. as she works towards her self-confidence and playing football, but in Front and Center it shows D.J. as she grows as a basketball player and the stress of college applications (!!) yet though the subjects are different D.J. has still retained her same humor, sarcasm and realness that has made me love this series.

Everything in this book is so real, though I have not started college applications yet (next year!) I am still feeling stressed just thinking about it. D.J. has a very real way of approaching everything, learning to cope with everything and just growing. All of the conflicts, both external and inernal, are really something teenagers deal with every single day so it's very easy to relate to. However, it was still kind of annoying listening to D.J. grumbling about whether or not to be with Brian, I just wanted to take her and shake her and just tell her to make up her mind! And sometimes, the book gets kind of boring, because there is just a maturity in it that a lot of YA books don't seem to have, but it gets good after a while.

I really like the chracter of Beaner, he is just such a sweet and great guy, but I just felt so bad for him, because it was obvious that D.J. didn't like him like that, like how she liked Brian, but he was so in love with her...sigh, it was sad to read. But I was also very surprised how fast, Beaner and D.J. got together, because one minute Beaner asks D.J. out on a "date" and she's all like, come on it has to only be a friend hang-out time, and she's totally clueless, and the next they're making out on his bed. It felt a little fast to be believable.

Cafe Chit Chat: I like the cover, it's kinda cute, and the sky is muy pretty also :) (B+)

All in all, a very good ending to the Dairy Queen trilogy, that hopefully all of the Dairy Queen lovers will enjoy. And if you haven't started this trilogy yet, you should!

Grade: B+

Wdebo :)

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Books in the Dairy Queen trilogy:

1. Dairy Queen [Read and loved!]

2. The Off Season [Click HERE for review]

3. Front and Center [This one!]