The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Is it okay to post about books that are not in our group list? I hope so (but if not let me know and I'll try to rein it in!), because I absolutely loved The Off Season. It is a sequel to last year's Dairy Queen, but Murdock does a fine job of making this a stand alone. D.J., Brian, and all the Schwenks are back, following D.J.'s spirited decision to play football. The story starts with her trademark humor and insightfulness, then delves into some of the deeper issues of family, honor, and maturation. I love these characters! YAY!
posted by Katie @ 2:27 PM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
I liked this, too. I especially liked that there was no pat ending. As much as I wanted Brian and DJ to live happily ever after, it was realistic and DJ doesn't fall apart. (It's not in her nature, after all). I give it a yay, too.
It's absolutely okay to post about books that aren't in our groups! We've all committed to reading all of the books in our group, but we're always free to read outside them as well.
While I'm really glad that Murdock didn't have a sophmore slump with this book, I don't think it grabbed me quite as much as Dairy Queen did. Maybe it's just that the first one was such a pleasant surprise, and this time the bar was set higher? Regardless, it gets a MAYBE from me.
I really liked it. I thought it was a smidge better than the first book - incorporated a few more people and issues. I thought it stood on its own (although I have read the first one). YAY from me. :)
Knowing a little about Dairy Queen's plot made it possible for me to dig into this story relatively quickly, but it wasn’t until the second half that the second book REALLY begins. It feels like the first 90 pages were an addition to the last story. But when the story of D.J. and her older brother Win really kicks off, I just loved it.
D.J. sounds like a great girl, and despite certain plot twists in The Off Season, when this is all over I think I might go back and read Dairy Queen. While I’d like to say yay, I can’t let the author off easy for the first half of the book. It just didn't have any emotional and plot interest for me as someone coming into the story not really knowing Brian and D.J. NAY
I think I may be the only teen librarian in the world that went into this book without knowing the first thing about Dairy Queen.
I liked this book, but I was completely lost. For example, it continually refers to the fight between Win and his father and I had no idea what that was about though I'm sure it is explained in full in the first book.
A great book, but a NAY because I spent most of it being lost.
Haven't read yet but loved reading everyone's comments. Just finished Dairy Queen and loved loved loved it. Can't wait to read Off Season, D.J. is such a great character.
I first read Dairy Queen and immediately liked D.J.'s character. She is strong, family oriented and not afraid to take chances. Then I read Off Season and I think it could stand alone as a novel. Both were equally good but very different. In the Off Season, we see a new side to D.J. I think I liked Dairy Queen better and while it was a good novel, I am saying Maybe based on other really great novels I've read that are maybe more award worthy.
Enjoyed Off Season, but agree with Edith that it really only takes off once things happened with Win. I've read Dairy Queen and wondered how Off Season would stand up with Brian/DJ for readers without that history. Great book, belongs in libraries, but a NAY for TU.
HI,
Found out today that this author's sister is Elizabeth Gilbert of the book Eat, Pray, Love. Small world.
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