Frozen Rodeo
By Catherine Clark

     Peggy Fleming Farrell’s life could be worse. She could be named Tonya Harding Farrell or Nancy Kerrigan Farrell. Most people in Lindville, including her parents, think that way, including the local British Robert Redford wannabe who owns the Western Wear store where Peggy executed the kind of job maneuver recounted in Cosmopolitan polls of “Most Embarrassing Job Blunder.” So Peggy’s stuck working as a coffee wench at the Gas ‘n Git when all she wants to go is grab some gas and git out of Dodge before her father, Patrick Farrell, involves her in his skating comeback. Then there’s Peggy’s mom, queen of weather and radio broadcasting, who seems to think Peggy hasn’t got a responsible bone in her body even as she rushes out the door leaving Peggy to watch “The Little Mermaid” again with her younger siblings.

      This beleaguered teen plays babysitter, coffee wench, reluctant Ice Capades attraction, and summer French class attendee waiting in vain for Godot, er, her absentee professor. Peggy, or Fleming as she prefers to be called, wants none of these roles. Her dream is to be the leading lady to IHOP waiter and fellow teen Steve Gropher. She thought they had a “thing,” but alas, it was just one of those things. Still, Peggy and her new less-than-enthusiastic French-class friend Charlotte scheme as teenagers do. But true to teen romance, tale as old as time, Peggy gets sidetracked by Steve’s best friend Mike in the red flip-flops. And what designs does Peggy’s U2-loving coffee-pushing colleague at the Gas ‘n Git have? Will Peggy always sing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”? Or will a rhinestone cowboy ride to her rescue during Rodeo Days? Will the Gas ‘n Git get held up in a string of robberies?

      With humor, wit, style and tenderness toward teens, Catherine Clark paints the picture of a modern-day Dorothy who finds her Oz and her rainbow where she least expects it. Best of all, there’s not a lead pipe, a broken skate lace, or a lead pipe to be found. Just good old-fashioned teenage angst and discovery.