LAST DANCE AT THE FROSTY QUEEN

On the dock of a lake in a tiny town at the corner of Nowhere & Nowhere, he sits counting the seconds until his high school graduation—at which point Arthur M. Flood intends to leave his hick life far behind in the brown Kansas dust. That's the plan. Until . . . up from the lake's muddy depths swims a girl. She's not a mermaid, but she is the one who shakes up Arty's life, makes him mad and mad for her, and helps him find a pathway to his past, his future, and where his heart truly lies.

Teens will recognize their own emotional landscape in this steamy, funny, coming-of-age tale in which the heart tries to hide, only to be utterly exposed by love and lust, lost and found.

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Coming-of-age novel takes Kansas author back to hometown roots

Coming-of-age story will likely take many readers back to their teens and remind them of their teenage angst. And for some readers, Last Dance at the Frosty Queen may bring to mind small-town living.

The work of fiction by Richard Uhlig is set in small Kansas town set in 1988. Uhlig is a Herington, Kan., native and says the town in his book has many similarities to that town.

An 18-year-old boy named Arthur is the protagonist. Two weeks before graduation, Arthur wants to leave hometown that he's become frustrated with. Before graduation, he meets a young woman, and they start a relationship. That forces him to reevaluate the way he sees his life in the small town.

"He sees his life in Kansas in a way he's never seen it before," Uhlig said.

He says that mirrors his real-life experience and experiences by many others who grow up in small towns.

"I think you have to get out of a place before you can really see it and the value that it has," he said.

The main character leaves the town at the end.

Many people who have read the book have asked Uhlig what happens to Arthur, and Uhlig says he may revisit the character in a sequel.

KTKA-49News-Wednesday, October 3, 2007

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