aka YA Literature

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Dairy Queen

Book: Dairy Queen
Narrator: Natalie Moore
Book Rating: A
Audio Rating: A

THE BOOK

I just adored this book. It was like a Sarah Dessen novel set on a Wisconsin farm. But better because the protagonist wasn't a Type A studious student but an average-to-below-average student with a lot of athletic talent and interest (ie. she wasn't your typical YA female protagonist). Finally it's the guy who is smart. I loved how all the characters were both flawed and likeable/redeeming. I really liked how D.J. had a distinct, believable teen voice. I also loved and didn't see coming the end as D.J. writing this for her English assignment, although I would have to go back and re-read the book to see if it really seemed like something that was intended for an English assignment. Seems a bit more conversational than I'd probably expect.

THE AUDIO

There's only good, so I'm not even going to bother with a "good" and "bad" here. Moore was super as D.J., a WI farm girl. Maybe sometimes D.J. seemed just a bit too articulate for her character, but I don't know if that's attributable more to Moore or Murdock. I got the impression that I might have thought the book was lighter if I'd read it, but even though there was a hint of conversationality to the book, it actually seemed pretty intense with Moore's tone. I loved it, though. She did distinguish well between characters too, but not so that they were really charicatured. Just a totally engaging performance.
PS. I like the paperback and German covers better than the hardback. And the German title, "Just Us Cows," is also a great title.

2 comments:

Texasholly said...

Hey, did you know the sequel to this book just came out? Also, the author's sister is a major adult author. I just read an interview by her in People magazine of all places.

Sheryl said...

I know, I just listened to it! It was very good, but for one thing, which I won't say because it has to do with the ending. But yeah, it was also good and well-written. I hope she writes more books. I only found out about her sister when I looked at Murdock's website.