Review: Front and Center

Title: Front and Center
Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Pages: 254
Rating: 4.5/5

After five months of sheer absolute craziness I was going back to being plain old background D.J. In photographs of course I-m always in the background . . . But it turns out other folks have big plans for D.J. Like her coach. College scouts. All the town hoops fans. A certain Red Bend High School junior who's keen for romance and karaoke. Not to mention Brian Nelson, who she should not be thinking about! Who she is done with, thank you very much. But who keeps showing up anyway . . . Readers first fell in love with straight-talking D. J. Schwenk in Dairy Queen; they followed her ups and downs both on and off the court in The Off Season. Now D. J.steps out from behind the free-throw line in this final installment of the Dairy Queen trilogy(Goodreads.com).

What a satisfying end to a wonderfully written trilogy! I am so glad I took the time to read each of these books. Each one was just as good as the one before, and the whole series combined is, for lack of a better word, amazing. I especially enjoyed the story line of Front and Center, and felt that it was a nice wrap up to Dairy Queen and The Off Season.

Front and Center focuses more on DJ's relationships and her college choices. Trying to forget about Brian, DJ begins to date her friend Beaner, who makes her happy but really isn't the perfect guy for her. Despite liking him as a friend, DJ cannot help but compare the way she felt around Brian to the way things are with her and Beaner. She certainly can't talk to Beaner like she was able to talk to Brian. She constantly finds herself wanting to call Brian and ask his advice, and all together just misses him. It was nice to see this part of DJ because it made her even more real. Brian had meant a lot to her and he had caused her to open up about so many things, it was weird to have him missing.

Another huge part of Front and Center, is DJs relationship with Win and her hunt to find the perfect college and scholarship. Most of the book focuses on whether or not she should go to the Division I school, or if she should take the "easy way out" and play for a smaller Division III school. It's interesting to see DJ's thought processes as she works through these decisions and how others help to influence her in the choices she has to make.

All in all, the Dairy Queen trilogy has been one of my all time favorite reads! I recommend that everyone give them a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed!