Here is Fannie Flagg's high-spirited and unabashedly sentimental first novel, the precursor to the bestselling Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

Taken from the pages of Daisy Fay Harper's journal, this is a coming of age story set in rural Mississippi that is by turns hilarious and touching. It begins in 1952 when Daisy Fay is a sassy, truth-tellin' but lonely eleven-year old, and ends six years later when she becomes the flamboyant, unlikely -- but assured -- winner of the Miss Mississippi contest. Along the way, we meet some of the raffish and outrageous town locals, including her own Daddy, who comes up with a mortgage scheme that requires Daisy's "resurrection." This is a thoroughly entertaining comic novel with a heroine who is bound to capture your heart.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg is also available from Random House AudioBooks.