The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival

Welcome to Grand Prairie, Louisiana-land of confounding accents, hard-drinking senior citizens, and charming sinners.Father Steve Sibille has come home to the bayou to take charge of St. Pete's church. Among his challenges are teenybopper altar girls, insomnia-curing confessions, and alarmingly alluring parishioner Vicky Carrier. Then there's Miss Rita, an irrepressible centenarian with a taste for whiskey, cracklins, and sticking her nose in other people's business.When an outsider threatens to poach Father Steve's flock, Miss Rita suggests he fight back by staging an event that will keep St. Pete's parishioners loyal forever. As The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival draws near, help comes from the strangest places. And while the road to the festival may be paved with good intentions-not to mention bake sales, an elephant, and the most bizarre cookout ever-where it leads is anyone's guess ... "A sparkling debut." -Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Into the Beautiful North, The House of Broken Angels, and Good Night, Irene"Wheaton writes with an infectious energy, and his affection for the characters and culture is authentic. ... Do the bon temps rouler? In Wheaton's hands, they sure do." -Publishers Weekly