Dairy Queen -- Catherine Gilbert Murdock

OH! I want a sequel. I finished Dairy Queen this morning (started it last night) and I WANT A SEQUEL. Right now. I loved it.

Backtracking slightly...

A little over a week ago, this message appeared in my inbox:

Fly By Night was very good; the Helquist cover, blurbs, jacket description do it a real disservice, but the reason I'm writing is DAIRY QUEEN! Fucking awesome, like a cross between Joan Bauer and Chris Crutcher with a totally unique heroine. I loved it. The cover, by the way, BLOWS; she ought to sue for defamation of character.

You get a message like that from a certain trustworthy source and you know you must obey. (Or at least I do. I don't want to risk life and limb by irritating an Alaskan.) 

Really, I don't have a whole lot to add to her description of the book: It is like a cross between Chris Crutcher and Joan Bauer -- very sports-oriented with a heroine that knows all there is to know about running a dairy farm. Less of Crutcher's grit, but with more attitude and fire than Joan Bauer. And yes, the cover art is so totally wrong that I'm a little shocked. It's in the same league-of-wrong as the white kid on the cover of Whale Talk. (Unless, of course the kid is supposed to be Chris Coughlin, since he has a letter jacket and all. But that's a whole other post.)

D. J. has a totally believable voice -- a special, perfect, original voice that made me forget that she was a fictional character. And in the brief moments that I did remember, I wished that she wasn't. She's very matter-of-fact and non-angsty. Like anyone else, she has her problems with friends, family and romance, but she doesn't moan about them. She's the antidote for anyone who feels like they've been drowning in mean girl chick-lit.

Easily one of my favorite books this year. I WANT MORE.