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.
I have to tell you, I've had you in my blog feeds for a few months and you are a very, very dangerous woman. Several times a week I find new books to add to my list from you. You are wreaking havoc on my personal Mount ToBeRead.
I think you need to add a warning label to your blog. ;)
*slumps off to add another book to her list*
Posted by: sassymonkey | 10 May 2006 at 11:11 AM
Well that totally made my day, if not my week. Thanks! (And sorry, sort of.)
Posted by: Leila | 10 May 2006 at 11:14 AM
Hah! I keep thinking about it; jeez it was good. Gabe read it (after removing the offending cover) and he thought it was great too. I want more books BY her, but I don't think I want a sequel.
Wasn't the thing with the cows so great? I could totally relate. A highly educated cow, but a cow nevertheless.
Posted by: c.c. | 10 May 2006 at 11:24 AM
The cow thing was perfect. I loved that.
I loved that her conscience was Oprah Winfrey.
And I do want a sequel, as frightening as that is... I want more. Not just of D.J., but of the whole family, and even Brian, and I loved the brief glimpses of the guys on the football team. Beaner and horrible Justin Hunsberger? C'mon. You know you want to read more about them. Even if CGM decided to write about the same characters from a different perspective -- I'd be cool with that. I just don't want to let go.
Posted by: Leila | 10 May 2006 at 11:38 AM
It's ok. You generally redeem yourself by alerting me to these books early enough for me to get near the top of the request list at the library.
And I'm guilty of reading and blogging about books from small Canadian publishers that no one in the US can easily find. You know, the type that's only in about 10 library world wide and 8 of those are in Canada. lol
Posted by: sassymonkey | 10 May 2006 at 12:25 PM
Out of curiosity, what would be a recently published book with good cover art? I think cover art these days is pretty much universally dreck.
Posted by: Hilary | 10 May 2006 at 12:43 PM
Most recently, I liked The Death Collector cover. Look! The Robot Zombie Dinosaur is about to eat Big Ben! Well, not really, because BB is in the background, but the artist lined it up juuuuust right. Love that.
I really love the Hard Case Crime covers, but those are total throwbacks, so you might not even count 'em.
Posted by: Leila | 10 May 2006 at 12:55 PM
I loved DJ also - I have a review of "Dairy Queen" in my column next month at Bookslut (the theme is "Surviving High School"). I really thought it was cool that it was set on a dairy farm, something that hardly ever shows up in YA literature and also that the family story was just as intriguing as all the teenage angst. I loved it a lot and I hope that we get more from this author. (A sequel would be excellent - I want to know more about all the brothers and the whole family dynamic.)
As for the cover question, "Death Collector" is amazing. I also just got "The Looking Glass Wars" today and it is very cool (and even has a soundtrack included - it's due out in September). For nonfiction I am in love with a title from Tundra Books, "You Can't Read This". It's a history of reading and has a big chain and padlock across the cover. What YA wouldn't want to read a book that looked like that?
Posted by: Colleen | 10 May 2006 at 02:03 PM
Ooo. Sounds cool. I have a copy of Looking Glass Wars on the way -- I'm really looking forward to it.
Posted by: Leila | 10 May 2006 at 02:09 PM
That 'Fly by Night' cover is terrible! The Canadian one is much more appealing, especially since they have priced it in the adult range.
I am with sassymonkey though. My pile is getting precariously high!
Posted by: Ali | 10 May 2006 at 04:49 PM
I hope you all get this cover of 'Looking Glass Wars,' rather than this one. I cannot sell that book to save my life!
Posted by: Ali | 10 May 2006 at 04:52 PM
How weird Ali - the ARC is actully a kind of combination of the two covers. It has a background picture similar to the first one (in color and content) but the overlay is the symbol of the four suits from the second one (although certainly not in those garish colors! ugh!)
I really like the ARC cover best I think - I'll be interested to see the final US cover on the shelves.
I also want to recommend the cover for Snow, Fire and Sword, a fantasy set in an alternate Indonesia. It's red and yellow so it screams out from the shelf, but it also has a helicopter winging overhead making you wonder just what the heck the whole thing is about.
Is it just me or is there some great YA Fantasy out these days?!
Posted by: Colleen | 11 May 2006 at 12:26 AM
That Snow, Fire and Sword cover is really cool! I hope it is better than that stupid Conch Bearer, which I was all excited about due to it being set in a non-Europe-esque locale. I will be interested in hearing what everyone thinks of the Looking Glass Wars. I enjoyed it, though I think Beddor was writing a book for boys, with a female protagonist, which is where the whole thing fell down. I had a hard time getting anyone to look at it just because of the cover, and then boys weren't into the girl as main character, and girls didn't seem to be interested in all the violence.
Posted by: Ali | 11 May 2006 at 02:25 AM
I am listening to Crutcher's 'Athletic Shorts' (my library only has is on audio). I do not know how I have not read anything by this man before. I am completely in love with him.
Posted by: jmfausti | 11 May 2006 at 09:55 AM
Practically everyone I know that has read Whale Talk (or Ironman or Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes or his autobiography) has elevated him to Secret Boyfriend status. Join our club!
Posted by: Leila | 12 May 2006 at 06:36 AM
hello idk about this book but add my myspace
heres email:
[email protected]
bye :]]
Posted by: Jessica Ramirez | 18 August 2008 at 06:11 PM
In case anyone is reading this several years late, like I am, the audiobook of Dairy Queen is terrific. Natalie Moore gives it those flat Midwestern vowels and renders characteristic phrases like "if you want to know the truth" perfectly.
I was so excited when I found out tonight it's a trilogy!
Posted by: grrlpup | 20 May 2012 at 11:14 PM