Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

“Benevolence is not your typical princess – and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale.”

Princess Ben is the story of a girl who likes being Princess but doesn’t want to be queen.  Her father is the king’s younger brother, and her mother is known more for her healing potions than her grace around a ballroom.  So when her parents, along with the king, die one tragic day on the way to visit Ben’s grandfather’s tomb, Ben has no choice but to move into the castle under Queen Sophia’s tutelage.  She hates it.  The queen wants Ben to lose weight, so she restricts what Ben can eat.  Ben’s forced into classes in dancing, manners, deportment, and needlework.  Ben lashes out by stepping on her dancing teacher’s laces, untying them.  When the queen discovers that someone has been sneaking food to the princess, Ben is moved to a little room about the queen’s suite.  After one particularly brutal dinner, Ben discovers, quite by accident, a magic portal in her room that leads her to a book of spells.  Princess Ben learns magic and, in turn, learns about herself and of what she’s truly capable.

Review by Kathleen

The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

D. J. Schwenk is back in the sequel to Dairy Queen.  At the start of the school year, she’s on the football team and even sort of dating Brian, the rival quarterback.  But then comes the realization that the farm is losing money, People magazine comes to do a story on D. J., D. J. hurts her shoulder and has to quit football, and her mom’s back goes out.  D. J.’s little brother is sneaking around with a girl.  And then, one of D. J.’s older brothers has a horrible accident during a college game.  Will Win, or the family, ever be the same again?

The first half of The Off Season delivers some of the same light-hearted charm of the first book, but the gritty realism of the second half highlights the problems that injuries in athletics pose.

Review by Kathleen

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

D.J. Schwenk comes from a family of football playing farmers in rural Red Bank, Wisconsin.  Her two older brothers have gone on to play college ball, and her father played football in the army.  But now her brothers Win and Bill are off at college, and her dad’s hip’s gotten pretty bad because of football, so D.J. is pretty much stuck taking care of the cows and the farm.  She doesn’t have time to finish her English homework, much less play basketball or volleyball.  But then her dad’s friend Jimmy, who coaches the football team at Red Bank’s rival high school, decides that his Quarterback needs some more training and D.J. could use some help at the farm.  Brian shows up not knowing what to expect.  Eventually, Brian and D.J. become friends, with D.J. training Brian with what she knows from watching her brothers for so many years.  And then, shortly before preseason is about to begin, D.J. decides to try out for football herself.

Catherine Gilbert Murdock really gets the feel for small town life in the Midwest, where life is what happens when you’re not focused on football, and the most fun thing to do in the world when you’re in high school is to drive your shiny pickup truck around the middle of town for hours on end (yes, this actually does happen – I’ve seen it!).  D.J.’s not perfect, but her quirks and foibles make her story all the more interesting.

You can visit Catherine Gilbert Murdock at her website, http://www.catherinemurdock.com/catherinemurdock/home.html.

Review by Kathleen