Larger	St. Dale Author: Sharyn McCrumb
	Book Information Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation Book Type: Hardcover Rating: 8 ISBN-13: 9780758207760 - ISBN-10: 075820776X Publication Date: 2/1/2005 Pages: 311 Book Reviews

A NASCAR trip called the Dale Earnhardt Memorial Pilgrimage-that's just about the last thing Judge Bakasu Holifield would have chosen for her vacation. But this year it's her sister Justine's turn to make their plans. Before she knows it, she's boarding a silver cruise bus for a tour of Southern speedways with Justine, their cousin Cayle, and a group of strangers who all seem to have more meaningful reasons for being there than Bekasu does.

None of the pilgrims ever met Dale Earnhardt, but he somehow touched each of their lives. For 18-year-old Shane McKee, the tour is a chance to get married at the speedway with Earnhardt there in spirit, as Shane searches for a sign to help him make sense of the death of his hero. New York stockbroker Terence Palmer has made the trip because the love of stock car racing is the only link he has with the father he never knew. Cayle experienced the first miracle: One night on a North Carolina country road a year after he died at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt fixed her car. Rev. Bill Knight, whose hobby is medieval pilgrimages, agrees to chaparone a dying child on the tour, and finds himself on a strangely familiar journey of faith and devotion, with the prospect of a miracle on hand.

Against all odds, ultimate skeptic Bekasu begins connecting with her fellow travelers in ways she never dreamed possible. But she's not the only one whose life is about to change dramatically. As the bus rolls down an uncertain road, prayers will be answered, secrets will be revealed, bonds will be forged, beliefs will be forever altered, and no one will leave this journey of self-discovery quite the same.

In a novel rich with compassion and truth, Sharyn McCrumb has crafted a tale of transformation and everyday miracles. Suffused with incisive Southern wit and unforgettable characters, St. Dale looks into the heart of America-its secular saints and cereal-box heroes, wild dreams and unrealized ambitions, heartbreaking losses and second chances-and celebrates its unbreaking spirit.