Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Since my last review was rather, um, negative, I'll start this by stating that the only negative thing I could possibly say about this book is that the cover is rather misleading. Based on the cover, I was expecting something Meg-Cabotesque, a humorous tale of a girl living on a dairy farm. And no offense is meant to Meg Cabot; I love her books, but they are generally light, fun, and escapist, and Dairy Queen is none of the above.

D.J. Schwenk lives on a dairy farm with her mother (who is never home because she works two jobs), her father (who can barely work due to hip problems), and her younger brother (who almost never talks). She also has two older brothers (who haven't been home since the past Christmas, when they got into "the Fight" with their father). Because of the above circumstances -- D.J. does most of the farm work herself.

One day, Brian, the quarterback from the rival high school's football team, shows up on her doorstep. He has been sent by his coach (a friend of her father's), to learn about real work. At first they hate each other, and try to ignore each other, but eventually, they become friends and have deep, meaningful conversations... Okay, you can probably tell sort of where this is leading... so I'll leave it at that!