Life is looking up for D.J. Schwenk. She's in eleventh grade, finally. After a rocky summer, she's reconnecting in a big way with her best friend, Amber. She's got kind of a thing going with Brian Nelson, who's cute and popular and smart but seems to like her anyway. And then there's the fact she's starting for the Red Bend High School football team—the first girl linebacker in northern Wisconsin, probably. Which just shows you can't predict the future. As autumn progresses, D.J. struggles to understand Amber, Schwenk Farm, her relationship with Brian, and most of all her family. As a whole herd of trouble comes her way, she discovers she's a lot stronger than she—or anyone—ever thought.
This hilarious, heartbreaking and triumphant sequel to the critically acclaimed Dairy Queen takes D.J. and all the Schwenks from Labor Day to a Thanksgiving football game that you will never forget.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
March 18, 2007 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780547349411
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780547349411
- File size: 3124 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- ATOS Level: 5.8
- Lexile® Measure: 1100
- Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty: 4
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Reviews
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April 30, 2007
this sequel picks up where last year’s Dairy Queen left off, with heroine D.J. Schwenk now starting for the Red Bend High School football team. In a preseason scrimmage versus archrival Hawley, she becomes the first female linebacker in Wisconsin to score a touchdown, crossing the goal line with a ball intercepted off romantic interest Brian Nelson. Unfortunately, things go decidedly downhill after that, as three members of the Schwenk clan wind up with serious injuries during the fall football season. The most critical of these happens to D.J.’s older brother, Win, who suffers a grave injury to his spine during a televised football game at his college. Because her mother’s back is out and her farmer father is emotionally unable to leave his cows, D.J. must take time off from school again (last year, it was her father’s broken hip) to help with her brother’s rehab, putting her hopes of an athletic scholarship in jeopardy. The fact that this burden falls to D.J. a second time feels a bit contrived and also makes her somewhat of a doormat—why is it always D.J. who must forgo school and sports to care for ailing family members? That said, fans of the first book will again find D.J. a companionable narrator, wryly pondering her relationship with Brian, as well as her obligations to her family and—most importantly—to herself. Ages 12-up. -
June 4, 2007
This sequel picks up where last year's Dairy Queen left off, with heroine D.J. Schwenk now starting for the Red Bend High School football team. In a preseason scrimmage versus archrival Hawley, she becomes the first female linebacker in Wisconsin to score a touchdown, crossing the goal line with a ball intercepted off romantic interest Brian Nelson. Unfortunately, things go decidedly downhill after that, as three members of the Schwenk clan wind up with serious injuries during the fall football season. The most critical of these happens to D.J.'s older brother, Win, who suffers a grave injury to his spine during a televised football game at his college. Because her mother's back is out and her farmer father is emotionally unable to leave his cows, D.J. must take time off from school again (last year, it was her father's broken hip) to help with her brother's rehab, putting her hopes of an athletic scholarship in jeopardy. The fact that this burden falls to D.J. a second time feels a bit contrived and also makes her somewhat of a doormat—why is it always D.J. who must forgo school and sports to care for ailing family members? That said, fans of the first book will again find D.J. a companionable narrator, wryly pondering her relationship with Brian, as well as her obligations to her family and—most importantly—to herself. Ages 12-up.
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