THE OFF SEASON
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0618686959
ISBN-13: 9780618686957
288 pages

• Read an Excerpt
• Author Talk -- June 2007

D.J. Schwenk spends Labor Day at the neighbors' picnic, eating and playing a baseball game so funny that she literally falls down laughing. But the family's cows must be milked and fed, so the Schwenks leave early to tend to their dairy farm chores. At home Brian Nelson shows up, to D.J.'s delight. Brian helps with the cows, he and D.J. discuss their last football game (they play on opposing teams), and then there's a little awkward shuffling as he prepares to leave. D.J. remembers how they botched their one attempt to make out as Brian takes off.

When school starts, D.J. discovers that she is no longer invisible, thanks to the fact that she’s the only girl on the football team. However, D.J. doesn't like the attention; she joined the squad to prove to herself that she was unique, not to become public property.

D.J. is thrilled when Brian calls to ask her to ride with him to Minneapolis over the weekend. But she turns him down for Saturday because her brothers play college football. Watching the games with her family is more important than anything else, so she's relieved when Brian suggests a Sunday trip. Their excursion ends with kissing so inflammatory that D.J. suddenly understands how easy it would be to "Do Anything Stupid" (which her mother constantly warns her against).

To her amazement, D.J. learns that the paparazzi are after her story. She doesn't want people accusing her of being a linebacker to get publicity. But maybe those reporters from People won't show up after all…

Meanwhile, kids at school begin hassling D.J.'s best friend Amber because of Amber's girlfriend. Amber starts cutting school, which is a total bummer for D.J. Next, D.J. is benched for "bullying" when she was actually defending a kid from a real bully.

Can things go even more downhill? Certainly. D.J. grapples with the secret knowledge of her family's financial situation, impossible decisions that challenge her loyalties, physical pain and romantic confusion --- not to mention a whole load of humiliation. And then something happens that is so earth-shattering that it puts all her other trials into perspective.

Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s characters are so real, I wouldn't be surprised to bump into one of them at the grocery store. There is not a stereotype to be found among the cast --- from the brilliant, good-with-little-kids younger brother to Amber and her barbecuing girlfriend Dale. And how refreshing it is to have a large, tall female main character who is in love but also plays football, roofs sheds, struggles with schoolwork and would never yearn to be a size 2.

The pace is lively, and the plot serves up surprising twists while staying true to life. As much as I enjoyed the first half of the book, once I hit the gut-twisting middle, I just could not put it down. THE OFF SEASON is a total winner, fulfilling the promise of the first installment of D.J.'s tale, DAIRY QUEEN. Dare we hope for a third?

    --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

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