Mrs. Ivey’s Cafe: A Willowdale, Indiana Story

Mrs. Ivey’s Cafe is full of gentle humor and 1950’s small-town charm. The entire family will enjoy this heartwarming look at one teenager’s journey into young adulthood.The year is 1957, and Shirley’s miserable. Her plans for a carefree summer with her girlfriends are in ruins after she receives a letter from her grandmother pleading for help. She has no choice but to honor the request. As the oldest grandchild, it is her duty and obligation to travel to the small town of Willowdale to spend the summer working in her grandmother’s cafe. Like most of the girls in her circle of friends, she has never held a job or been away from home by herself. She worries the small town has nothing to offer her except endless days of hard work, loneliness and boredom. While Shirley struggles to adjust to life in Willowdale, its eccentric residents and the job she doesn’t want, she meets a local boy. He’s her age and seems nice. Then, through an odd turn of events, a mutual friend asks a favor of Shirley and the boy. At first, they are eager to work together to help her. But they soon become rivals in a real-life game of tug of war, jeopardizing their budding friendship. One day, Shirley and her grandmother find themselves in danger, and the residents of Willowdale and a little dog named George set out to rescue them. Through their examples of generosity and self-sacrifice, will Shirley put aside her childish notions and finally learn the true meaning of friendship?