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kitsuneheart 's review for:
Front and Center
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
I was actually a bit surprised by this book's focus on basketball, after so much time was spent on football in the previous books. It makes some sense, however: D.J. has generally been shown to be better at hoops than on the field, and we also know that her family can't pay for college, so she needs to go for her strengths. And having a full-ride in football going to a girl, while an interesting twist, would be fairly unbelievable, even for YA fiction.
I also like the book's focus on pressures to perform, especially outside of a academic setting. D.J. isn't characterized as a BAD student, but just an adequate one, and she's fine with that. Her fear is she can't stand out in the one thing she's really good at. And that's a pretty real fear, and it's addressed well.
I did have to knock a star off for the somewhat renewed relationship with Brian Nelson. While the book tries to show him as having matures, I'm still not satisfied, and would have far preferred D.J. not wind up with anyone. Isn't college enough?
It wasn't always able to keep my attention, but "Front and Center" was still an enjoyable ending to D.J.'s story. Enough so that I'm not really tempted to read the next book in the series, which follows D.J.'s brother's girlfriend. I'll stick with D.J., and I'm satisfied with her happy ending.
I also like the book's focus on pressures to perform, especially outside of a academic setting. D.J. isn't characterized as a BAD student, but just an adequate one, and she's fine with that. Her fear is she can't stand out in the one thing she's really good at. And that's a pretty real fear, and it's addressed well.
I did have to knock a star off for the somewhat renewed relationship with Brian Nelson. While the book tries to show him as having matures, I'm still not satisfied, and would have far preferred D.J. not wind up with anyone. Isn't college enough?
It wasn't always able to keep my attention, but "Front and Center" was still an enjoyable ending to D.J.'s story. Enough so that I'm not really tempted to read the next book in the series, which follows D.J.'s brother's girlfriend. I'll stick with D.J., and I'm satisfied with her happy ending.