Dreaming Southern

by Linda Bruckheimer

"Broke, with their furniture piled into a trailer, Lila Mae and her kids hit the road en route to a land of movie stars, swimming pools, and their share of the American Dream. In the backseat, sixteen-year-old Becky Jean ignores her mother and buries her head in Modern Screen. Twelve-year-old Carleen clutches a shopping bag of Katy Keene comic books, while a dart from six-year-old Billy Cooper's rubber dart gun bounces off their baby sister, Irene. For the Wootens, heading for the Golden State and for Lila Mae's husband Roy by way of Alabama, Louisiana, and Minnesota, there's no such thing as a direct route.". "Especially when the Wootens meet Juanita Featherhorse and her pyromaniacal son, Benny. Soon they're driving toward the Grand Canyon using a secret route Juanita knows. Before they know it, Lila Mae, her kids, her trailer, and a car loaded full of magazines, banana peels, paraffin lips, and underwear are balanced on the edge of a steep cliff - with everyone hanging on for dear li