Last Dance at the Frosty Queen

by Richard Uhlig

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.

Genres: Young Adult, Coming Of Age, Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Contemporary

368 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2007

Reviews

[Queenielyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's how I'll start this review:

It's perfectly fine whether you go to a library without books in mind that you'll sure to borrow—all it takes is to just pick up a random book from the shelf and start reading. I randomly picked this book up from the library shelf.

"Of all the things this burg lacks, dateable girls would have to be at the top of my list."

That's what I did with this beautiful, well-paced book. It wasn't in my to-read list at all. Sure now it is in mine! And should you read it and add it to yours as well! I was kind of upset that the book wasn't even touched or at least flipped through. I found it just sitting on the shelf, silence library - no one bothers to check out... what possibly the magic it holds.

Perhaps no one ever noticed the book on shelf either. I'm merely disappointed as well, that the book is not recognized bestselling or something. Or any book award. It deserves a great recognition! Hence, more people will read it.

"Say what you will, but we yokels know how to entertain ourselves"

So amazing! The synopsis and it's cover definitely did a great job—appealing to me that it has gotten my approval to read it! A must read! And yes, absolutely remarkable, life-changing story...reading all of them from Arthur Flood. A teenager guy's perspective, one of the most that I found unbelievably realistic, true to the title and every thing!

"If you don't play football in Harker City, you don't exist (I don't exist)." 

"I am lonely beyond words."

I couldn't be more pleased and agree how true and realistic the characters are. They have that setting in the story that I very much adore. I especially love the setting which is in the late 80's and the music goes along very well that I teared up. A town, small town - people living in with full of hidden history you have to figure out. The characters are also not perfect. No one was perfect in all them that made them very realistic. The flaws that reflects back to me, that I can feel that I am like them. There's a connection from them to me that I could connect back. If that even make sense. I couldn't believe it though that the ending was going to be the way it is. It is neat.

Unbelievably good, well-written, and most of all - funny!! My heart is so full, I want to hug this engaging book, the main characters! Amazing! Definitely a must read for a wonderful time this summer. Though I admit I don't experience seasons here in Singapore. Anyhow, then, it feels so great to have read it nonetheless! I highly recommend it!

"So I guess she flies all over the world and meets all kinds of men. But you know what they say—there's no one like your first true love." -Allen

It's got the love story going on - more on difficult decisions and situations faced by a guy protagonist. Teens stuffs, coming-of-age book. Arthur's thoughts are truly engaging, humorous - pretty much this guy on the book has a messed-up life that makes him even more real that I can't help but love him and everything! Is it just me...I notice that Arthur is someway or another an introvert. The book reminds me of Charlie in Perks of Being A Wallflower - I just did. To be honest, though, this book is unique on its own alone. I couldn't put it to words how beautiful it is - no cliches. Unpredictable.

I keep asking whether there was something wrong with the number of pages because it's stated on Goodreads that it has 368 and the physical book - good condition, no tear in between or any damage - it ended on page 358. So I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with the physical copy or I'll bawl right here and now if it happens that there are more pages than it truly is. In case, any of you are wondering too, I gotta have to say that Goodreads needs to edit that number of pages from 368 to 358, because it's the truth.

I want to say again, and again the book ended well and neatly. There are also many quotes to go that I wanted to include on this review that I can't - too many favorites with so much meaning to the quotes. The guy's perspective is always amusing to me especially in books, haha! This is one of those books! Me -- Satisfied reader here! I enjoyed this book very much! Unforgettable, a thought-provoking book ever, plus easy-to-read! Define perfection - this is!

I'll end this with some more quotes from the book that I like:

"People keep telling me that the high school years are the best of your life. I'm betting my whole future on them being dead wrong."

"Y'know, painful as it can be, sometimes it's a good thing to revisit the past. It can help you move on."

"But what would it be like, just for those few seconds of falling, knowing you're going to die? I bet there's a moment of epiphany. Like when people see their lives flash before their eyes."

Vanessa: "But why fear death? At worst, it's just nothingness...."
Arty: "If it is nothingness, shouldn't we make the most of our time while we're alive in all the somethingness?"

Vanessa: "I'm leaving here soon. There's no point in starting something." 
Arty: "A little something is a whole lot better than nothing." 

"She has just ripped open my chest, reached inside, and strangled my heart." 
"I should have jumped off that tower."

"If she says she still wants to be friends, I'm going to snatch her fancy camera and toss it out the window."

"Randomness, like our meeting, is what makes life interesting, don't you think?" 
"Absolutely."

"Does everyone do this—convince themselves that their life has meaning? Do I?"

"Why would you want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you?"

"Did I set my own trap? Do I find it easier to feel sorry for myself, to do nothing, than to change my life?"

"Are you going to let someone else define you?"

"I like her, you know. She's honest and smart." "And crazy." "Hate to break it to ya, son, but we're all crazy." - Vernadell

Someone just proves it to me that crazy can mean I'm normal but how crazy is crazy (?) haha! I feel like I quoted the whole book! Look...the book is a-must read! I repeat - a MUST read!! There are actually more and many, countless quotes I want to share but it looks like I'm spoiling it for you readers. I can stop here. You will not...never regret reading it--promise!

Happy reading to y'all and let's go get some sundaes over at Frosty Queen - wherever it exist!

[Kevin Orth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterfully written, gripping to the end

This read is as masterfully written as the story is engaging. through to the final line there is essentially no predicting or anticipating what will happen next. The story line is fresh and engaging. Every turn the author has to make a cliche he turns in a different direction. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book. Set in the summer of 1988 in small-town USA, it follows an 18-year-old boy who is bored, sarcastic, and full of dreams. The cast of quirky small-town characters adds to the charm. A nostalgic and fascinating character study that captures the essence of a suffocating small town and the high drama of being a teen on the brink of adulthood.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, was this a brilliantly bleak, yet uplifting portrayal of small town life through from the view of one very disillusioned youth (I just aged ten years with that phrase). Though a few bits can be dicey on paper, its the authentic speech and ultimate outcome of these events draw the reader in.

Interesting Elements
-Small Town Suffocation
*There's a sadness in the one main street Arthur "Arty" Flood drives, has driven, and will drive on everyday of his life if he doesn't get out upon graduation. A desolation in the handmade decorations in the gym. Small towns aren't always quaint to those who grow up in them; there's a lack of connection and too much all at once. For Arty, it's everyone knowing his business, knowing he wants to leave, but making no real effort to help him. It was like watching someone get pulled under by quicksand.
*There's also the idea that misery loves company and because of this, Arty is doomed to repeat his parents' mistakes (his mother became pregnant in high school-the very same high school he's graduating from-and had to marry Arty's father not out of love, but shame. She eventually became a destructive drunk and died from related complications). When he walks out of the prom to escape his overbearing date, Arty's not marveling "wow, my parents were once people too, and hey, I'm even wearing Dad's bow tie". Nope. It brings on nightmares of becoming a citizen of this purgatory known as Harker City. How he and his... girlfriend? Geraldine will become parents, driven to drinking. Not that Geraldine minds. This is all part of her plan (more on that later).
-Handling of a Touchy Subject
*Arty has an illicit sexual affair with his drama teacher, Mrs. Kaye, and unlike most teen dramas, who view these incidents as swoon-worthy with an R&J forbidden twinge, Arty admits he's not happy with her. He feels ashamed that he's essentially a homewrecker to a very manipulative woman. Their scenes are often the saddest, written with an urgency to make the relationship and all its moments go away. A griminess that makes you feel bad for any prolonged encounter for Arty.
-Women Playing Puppeteer/Damaging Arty's Psyche
*Arty's had no luck with women or people in general, feeling either emotionally abused or exhausted from playing the role of caregiver:
1.I've already mentioned his deceased mother's alcoholism. But we later learn that her drinking caused her to walk straight into a glass sliding door. Arty was the one who found her and caused injury to himself. Once she was in hospital, she cajoled Arty (a child or early preteen at most here) into slipping her alcohol, claiming "if you want me to get better, keep giving me my drinks". This kind of manipulation and memory could be what keeps him kind to Geraldine (even though there's no love/attraction to her physically/mentally) and why he's into Mrs. Kaye, another broken older woman.
2.Geraldine tells Arty what to do, how to behave, even when he's going to deflower her, while using the threat of her violent and corrupt father/town sheriff. She even goes so far as to fake a pregnancy scare to trap him. And when Arty suggests their options, she slaps him multiple times. In the end, Geraldine confesses that she enjoyed Arty's submissive nature and did seek to take advantage of it, his kindness even from childhood.
3.Mrs. Kaye was manipulative from the start: calling him mature for his age and using both his dream of getting out of dodge (she tells him once they're found out that he should come with her to Chicago, mentioning that she's got monetary security that none of the other girls can give) and his burgeoning art school dream (she invites him to sketch "a real woman"). Whenever Arty begins to be honest about his discomfort in their encounters, she whips out her good brownies, cooing "no one will love you like me", classic abuser line.
-Realistic Infatuation/Characterization
*Vanessa (who I wrongfully assumed was the manic pixie dream girl) isn't admittedly in the right headspace to love Arty. They also discuss birth control, and they're made quite 3-D once they're together: we learn more about Arty's ambition to leave/go to art school, the kind of sketching he likes, and Vanessa's got her own baggage: bad ex BF, self-destructive tendencies, and a miscarriage. But it's not all doom and gloom for her: she's got hobbies, yes she do! (painting, reading everything she can get her hands on, swimming)
*Rather than have the book end with Arty jumping into the car with Vanessa, she leads him to a $2,000 cash reward that funds his way out. They don't make plans because they've got their own to figure out.
-Should I Stay or Should I Go?
*The book does a good job at getting to the root of a common small town problem: damned if you do, damned if you don't. Arty talks about how the residents who leave are essentially seen as snobs, shunned for wanting more and the ones who stay wallow in their glory days (like his older brother Allen). It's the old crab in a barrel mentality.
-Writing
*This isn't pretty or ugly; it reads like someone taking the millionth drive down that one tiny street and seeing all the people they've talked to a million times. It's lonely, hopeful, darkly funny and authentic to an uncomfortable degree.

Bonus
-Vanessa coming out the water to a stunned/love struck Arty felt like a sailor being seduced by a siren.
-This honestly made me want to listen to "Born to Run" and "Thunder Road" the entire time.
-Arty the Angsty Victim
*Vanessa points out Arty poking holes in his raft before he even makes it to water: moaning about his money woes, only to have her point out that there's this thing called student loans/financial aid and he's worked part-time once, he can do it again. The only thing holding him back is him.
-There is actually a restaurant called Frosty Queen IRL!

There's debates on mental health, coming to terms vs. breaking free, everything teen me needed when I took that final drive from small town to bigger city. It ended perfectly, but I kind of want an epilogue, Arty and Allen returning for a funeral in his family parlor, finally making peace by coming back but not to stay.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harker City, Kansas, isn’t much to speak of — the biggest business competition in town is between two funeral homes, one of which Arthur Flood’s dad owns. Arty is about to graduate from high school and has two things on his mind: sex and getting out of town. Maybe three, if you count getting a high score on the Frosty Queen’s Ms. Pac-Man machine.

In this novel written for young adults, Richard Uhlig takes a bittersweet, unsentimental and sometimes humorous look at a small town in the late 1980s — and the hopes, dreams and harsh realities faced by young people in such places.

The characters, not just Arty and Vanessa but also the supporting players, have a depth and complexity that makes them convincingly real. And Uhlig artfully captures the longings — physical, emotional and undefinable — of teens on the cusp of adulthood, when they aren’t sure what they want but are sure they want something other than what they have.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arty is a high school senior, stuck in a small town with the wrong girl. He wants the girl from the lake but he is also having an affair with his English teacher, Well written, Enjoyable. I relished every word. A YA novel that adults can enjoy.

[Steven Canale · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my top 5 books! Rick joined us for our book club discussion and was a delight. It's a great read; sometimes funny, sometimes serious, with a really good ending. I've read it twice. :)

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a light hearted first book by author Richard Uhlig. It’s filled with some interesting and well drawn characters.

[:P · Rating 4 out of 5]

kind of misogynistic but still good

[Ttly_not_lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the ambiance and just wished for MORE from Arty's character. It was solid but there was just something missing.

[Kimone Mcpherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur was beautifully written.i read this 10 years ago when i was 16 and it resonated with me every since a beautifully written coming of age novel

[Fernanda Alonso]

This book turned out to be my favorite book from the three books that I read. This book not only took place in Kansas but in a small town is something all of us can relate to. Sure Wichita isn't small but we feel like there's not much to do and that's how the main character felt as well. The main character had a great development throughout the plot. He starts off in the novel as a person with low expectations and let life take its course on its own. Sure he had dreams and some views of leaving his city but never knew what exactly he was going to do or even how. That is until he meets a girl out of town that gives him a new perspective in life. I liked how the author included the other main character because it almost symbolizes this girl as a light shinning on the main character. She is this light that leads him to a better understanding of what he wants out of life and what he really deserves. I liked how the character shows that she is like a light helping the main character by leading the way but the author also shows the reader her flaws. No one is perfect but we're human, what can we do? And that's what the author did when he described the girl main character by mentioning her past up to family and where she's headed to because of her past. The main character also has other minor characters that bump him into a different path but Arty, the main character, found his way. I really loved this book because its a simple story of a graduate-to-be wants to leave but shows how the town he's grown up in, has shaped him and leaded him to better things in life.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Arty -- he's graduating from high school in a dead-end town, just dreaming of escaping to a more glamorous life. But his affair with a high school teacher (ew) and relationship with the sheriff's daughter (her daddy insists! And he's scary), don't leave him much time to really figure out who he is and what he really wants. He just knows he doesn't want to join the family's undertaking business, or end up like his sister or brother. He doesn't really want to face the issues of his mother's death that has been hushed up for years. The town is dying, and Arty doesn't want to be there for the end.

I liked this look at small town America. I've lived and taught in these little towns, and I've seen kids like Arty who want to make something of their lives, but they're so afraid to take that first step. What Arty has to learn is that first step away will lead to a homecoming when he'll appreciate all his small town had to teach him. But we can't really learn that lesson unless we move away.

LOVED the framing story of the community celebration, complete with a Wizard of Oz theme...'There's no place like home' even when you're trying to get out.

Not my favorite Sequoyah book, but one I think my guys especially will read and really "get".

[Teen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: Unfortunately for Arty Flood, his quest to leave Kansas upon graduation from high school, there is no tornado to whisk him off to the Emerald city. His dad’s undertaking business is on the skids; his after school job as a dog clothing designer can’t afford to pay him what he has earned. Socially, his life is even more complicated. The town sheriff has blackmailed Arty into dating his ugly daughter, who sees Arty as husband material, as soon as she can bust her cherry and get pregnant. Then, of course, there is his clingy drama teacher, with whom he’s been having regular ‘Mary Kay Laturneau’ sessions in the back of his dad’s hearse. Where is he going to get the money to extricate himself from his hick Kansan town? And will Vanessa, a California girl, whose family hopes to cure what ails her by shipping her to stay with relatives in Arty’s tiny home town, be able to give Arty the boost he needs to leave Kansas for the rest of his life. The book is long, but the chapters are short. It’s a quick read, but very satisfying, just like a Zip Burger at the Frosty Queen. Peg Dombek

[Joy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a YA book that adults will find endearing. I laughed along the way as main character, Arty Flood, cruised around his boring Kansas hometown in a hearse - a birthday gift from his father who owns a funeral home. This is only the beginning of the quirky life of this high schooler. Arty can't help stumbling into the trouble he finds - first from the girlfriend who pressures him into sex so she can solidify her marraige plans; then from the English teacher who launches him into an affair with her; finally from the enchanting and mysterious girl who pops out of the lake and makes him fall in love for real. So many of Arty's experiences will resonate with a wide range of readers. Who hasn't wished for something bigger and better after graduation? Follow Arty on his humorous and entertaining quest to find out what lies beyond Harker City, KS.

[Malorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal. I mean it hooked me from the beginning! I love the story setting, which is a small town in the Midwest. Arthur Flood's family owns a funeral home so Arty must use a hearse as his car. The basics about the book: Arty is having an affair with his teacher; Arty meets a beautiful girl, Vanessa, who seems to have a troubled past; and to conclude this chaotic situation Arty's actual girlfriend only wants her and Arty to have sex. The whole relationship presents a problem because Geraldine's father, who is a cop, has demeaning information on Arty's brother. This ultimately ends in a forced relationship between Arty and Geraldine, only existing to help save his brother from getting arrested.

[Sammi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to love, Arty is a train wreck in slow motion. Everything goes wrong, carnage is everywhere, yet you can't look away. Last Dance at the Frosty Queen is kind of like it's main character in that way. So many things happen, most of them either ridiculous or just plain stupid, and yet, I can't help loving this book. (I am now straying away from the train wreck metaphor. Train wrecks are BAD.) It's funny and awkward, and hits all the notes that every high schooler feels--the desperate song of I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!
Overall, great book. I couldn't put it down, and it is the most likely reason I couldn't study for my history quiz on Monday.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after high school before community college, I was just working at that time and had a sweet little summer-turn-seasonal romance going on. I could relate to the character base. Excitement filled me while reading it that I shared it with as many friends as I could including the guy 'romancing'-He was hooked too. Ha, good times. Though the book still leaves a lingering memory, I would prefer to reread it now to give a better review not under the influence of a "love bug" while I was "in looooove".

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. It took actually stopping and thinking about it to set it in the 80s in my mind a few times, but it was easy to picture everything about it. If picturing central Kansas in the late 80s was this easy for me, it's probably time for me to leave central Illinois. Also if it was so easy, the writer probably did a great job. I wanted more to the story, but not depth wise. Nothing was left inappropriately unresolved. Fantastic.

[Claudia Cutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

i liked this book a lot. the people in the small town were just so ridiculous and it made me simultaneously crack up and want to cry at some of the things that happened. very ironic and cynical.

i also liked the adventures that the main character and vanessa got into. it was very summery and sweet and sad.

[Liza Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my favorite book of all time. This was the first (and only) book where I got what it mean when people would say "I literally couldn't put it down." I liked it so much I bought a copy of the book and have re-read it at least three times. I also recommended it to two of my friends, and they both really enjoyed it too.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining enough book, but the narrator's voice was nothing spectacular, and all the characters were so broadly drawn and crazy, it was difficult to believe in any of them at all. Kinda fun though.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up for my A-Z book challenge. It was pretty interesting, but not the best I've ever read. I love the ending though, quite interesting, and it's good that he got his dream figured out...Just a book to read on a rainy day.

[Tay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Transformative. A sincere portrayal of a small-town-Kansas, high-school-senior boy's desires and struggles, and his plans to leave town after graduation. Even though his mother is deceased, he interacts significantly with multiple women of varying ages.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was one of the best I've read in a long time.

[HD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Read this one for work. In the end, the storytelling redeemed the many cliches.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thouhgt it was an intersting book, at times it dragged on but i thought that it was worth reading and had a good ending.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book !!!! a perfect book about finding a way out of a traditional rusty town.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was great it had all the elements of small town life( the affairs and the mean cop). Arty had a rough time of it. Vanessa was just the kind of crazy he needed.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable book. A very light, easy, quick read, but also very well-written, fun, sweet without being cheesy, and endearing. I highly recommend it.