Stay Sweet

By Siobhan Vivian
Lexile = 800

The promotional materials for Stay Sweet carry this tag-line: A summer read about first love, feminism, and ice cream. Hmmm. I get the love and ice cream, but I missed the feminism in this story. Yes, the Meade Creamery is run exclusively by high school girls, and they ascend the ranks to be the senior girls in charge of the stand. Meade Creamery is owned by Molly Meade who opened the ice cream business in 1994 when her boyfriend never returned from WWII. So there is is that. But I think the feminism stops there.

The plot centers on the death of Molly Meade and the attempted take-over of the Creamery by Grady Meade, who is out to prove himself to his parents, make a buck, and move on. The girls know how to run the business and plan on a fight with Grady. Then there is romance, an ice cream shortage and a desperate search for the signature Meade flavor.

Sweet read, which is to be expected from a book titled Stay Sweet. It is a bit thin on plot drama, but perhaps that is ok from a "sweet" summer read. It did remind me of LaBeau's drive-in up at Bear Lake, so there is that bit of nostalgia for local readers.