D.J. Schwenk’s high school career has already been a roller coaster ride, and it’s only the middle of her junior year. She has played on her school’s football team --- receiving both unwanted publicity and romantic attention as a result. And, sadly, her family has been turned upside down by a tragedy and its aftermath.

After taking some time off to care for her older brother, D.J. is back to school and is hoping that means getting back to normal. She wants to do well in her classes and resume playing basketball, her favorite sport. And, like any teenager, she would like to go largely unnoticed and just make it through the day. But any hopes D.J. has of fading into the background are soon dashed her first day back when the girls’ basketball team decorates her locker, and Coach K hands her a stack of letters from universities with high-powered basketball teams, all of whom want her to call them and set up meetings. Fading into the background has quickly become standing in the limelight, and it’s clear that D.J.’s junior year will be anything but simple.

It doesn’t help that Coach K wants D.J. to take a more active leadership role on the court this year, making plays, calling out players who aren’t doing their job, and just being the most visible one on the court in general. Although D.J. loves helping her less talented teammates with strategy and plays after hours, she is not so comfortable taking that front and center role on the court for the entire school to see. And if she can’t handle a high school crowd, how could she possibly expect to survive the rolling cameras and thousands of fans watching her on a Big Ten basketball arena? Maybe she’d be better off at one of those Division III schools, the kind where she wouldn’t just be on the team, she’d actually be the team.

D.J.’s decisions about her collegiate future are complicated by the attentions of two boys: Beaner, her silly, funny long-time best friend who now wants to be something more, and Brian, her ex, whose bad behavior in the past drove a wedge between them. Now Brian is back --- and he has seen the error of his ways. His smile (and his kiss) still drives D.J. crazy, and if she ends up at UW-Madison, he’ll be only a couple of hours away. But what if Brian slips back into his old ways? And what about Beaner’s feelings? Why can’t any of D.J.’s choices be easy?

Fans of Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Dairy Queen trilogy will be very sad to see D.J.’s story come to an end. These have been some of the best books celebrating girls’ sports in a positive, serious way, and D.J. is a sympathetic, realistic character whose combination of talents and insecurities will speak volumes to many teens. This final installment will have audiences cheering along with D.J. as she realizes --- with the help of her countless allies and fans --- exactly what she was meant to do and who she can become. Readers may have to content themselves with simply imagining her collegiate future, but what a great future it’s bound to be!

  -