Drama at the Dairy Queen

I am blessed to live in a town where there is a Dairy Queen. Well, really, it's a mixed blessing because it is all too easy to jump in my car and drive to the Dairy Queen to satisfy my urge for a caramel sundae or a blizzard pretty much whenever I want to! If you are not one of those folks who have ever visited a Dairy Queen, I recommend you visit one whenever you can. There is just something about their creamy vanilla ice cream that is so wonderful. My mother told me not too long ago that her dad actually managed a Dairy Queen at one point in his life, so perhaps my affinity for their ice cream is not too far-fetched? The title of my latest find, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore really intrigued me when I first saw it. It immediately made me think of the times I have spent at Dairy Queen with my friends, eating tasty treats and talking about our lives--but I am not sure I could say that I have ever had an epiphany while sitting there! This is something that I do not share with Catherine Grace Cline, the heroine of this delightful story. Set in 1970's in the town of Ringgold, Georgia, Catherine Grace is the oldest daughter of Ringgold's third-generation Baptist preacher, who dreams of someday leaving her boring small town for a life in "the big city." Every Saturday afternoon she and her sister, Martha Ann, sit on the picnic bench at the Dairy Queen, eating Dilly Bars and plotting her escape to Atlanta when she turns eighteen. Catherine Grace dreams of a wonderful job in retail, as she and Martha Ann live their lives and long for their mom, who drowned when Catherine Grace was six. Catherine lives her dream until unexpected events occur that force her to return to Ringgold. This book truly charmed me! Catherine Grace is a smart girl trying to live a normal life as a "preacher's daughter" and her depth and knowlege of life is wonderful. The characters in this book are well developed and resemble folks in any small Southern town. If you like this book, try also reading Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe.