4 stars

I picked this book up at the Little Free Lending Library, because as someone who grew up in a small town in Wisconsin surrounded by farms and a bad high school football team, I thought I could find something to relate to in it. At first, I hated the book. I thought D.J.’s narration was really annoying and the whole Brian-love-interest storyline was eye-rolling and predictable. But as I kept reading, it got a lot better. This book isn’t just about football or love or friendship. It’s about finding your place in life and all of the things that are part of it. It’s about family and relationships and talking things out… and yes, it’s got a lot of football in it. But even if, like me, you aren’t a huge fan of football, there is still a lot to enjoy in this book.It’s funny in a cute way (not a laugh out loud way). It’s empowering as D.J. finally gets the push she needs. But most of all, it is a nice, fresh look at teenage life and one girl’s journey in figuring out who she wants to be. I will say that I think the whole lesbian-plotline thing could have been handled better. There is a resolution of sorts, but I don’t think it was pushed as far as it should have been. Despite the importance of the relationship, it sure didn’t get a lot of mention in the text. The end seemed like a quick fix and D.J.’s thoughts and opinions about lesbians was still kind of fuzzy. She said some not-so-great things previously in the narration and while it’s assumed she probably doesn’t think that way by the end, things aren’t laid out as clearly as I feel they should have been.

Overall, a good read and an interesting story.