NOTE: This guide refers to the hardback copy of The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, written by Fannie Flagg and published by Random House, New York, USA, 2013.

NOTE: This guide refers to the hardback copy of The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, written by Fannie Flagg and published by Random House, New York, USA, 2013.

Sookie Poole thinks her life is settling down after organizing and paying for weddings for each of her three daughters. According to protocol, she won't have to pay for or organize her son's wedding, so she plans to take it easy and enjoy feeding the birds. She knows she will still be busy taking care of her mother's finances. Lenore, Sookie's mother, is an eccentric woman known all over town for her eclectic look and her love of the old south's heritage. One day, out of nowhere, Sookie receives a registered letter for her mother from the Texas health department. Sookie opens the letter expecting some kind of bill, but instead finds documentation that shows she was adopted.

Sookie deals with anger toward her mother for her lifelong unrealistic expectations of her in addition to keeping her adoption secret. Despite her anger, she never confronts her adoptive mother about the lie out of respect for her. Sookie realizes she needs help dealing with the anger she feels toward Lenore and the confusion around her adoption revelation, so she contacts the local psychiatrist. Afraid the gossips in town will talk about her if they see her enter the psychiatrist’s office, she convinces him to meet her at various restaurants around town. The gossips see that and start the rumor that she is cheating on her husband. Lenore confronts her about the rumor and is just as mortified that Sookie is seeing a psychiatrist.

After some time, Sookie decides to contact the mother listed on her birth certificate, Fritzi Jurdabralinski, to meet her. In another twist, it turns out that Fritzi is not Sookie’s mother either. Sookie’s mother, Sophie, died in a plane crash while training in the WASP program. Fritzi, having vowed to never let their parents know that Sophie was an unwed mother, puts the baby up for adoption and signs the paperwork saying that she, herself, is the baby’s birth mother.

As if learning she was adopted isn't shocking enough, Sookie realizes she is 60 instead of 59 because her mother got a fake birth certificate for her. In addition to not being able to live up to the standards of the Simmons family name that are preached to her by Lenore, Sookie learns that her birth mother and her aunt, and uncle had adventurous experiences as pilots during World War II. She feels inadequate and disappointing with such large characters in both her birth and adoptive families. With the help of her family, friends, and psychiatrist, Sookie learns to forgive and to appreciate the life she has. She also appreciates her family heritage -- from both her birth mother and her adoptive mother's families.

While sharing Sookie’s story, the author also tells the story of the Jurdabralinski family. Stanislaw Jurdabralinski immigrates to the United States in 1909 and builds a successful filling station business in Pulaski, Wisconsin. He instills his love of adventure and his work ethic in his five children. When his son, Wink, becomes an Army pilot in World War II, and he must go to a tuberculosis sanitarium, Stanislaw’s daughters take over the filling station as mechanics and general operators in roles not traditionally held by women. They love the work and did a good job with all aspects of it. When Stanislaw returns home from his rehab care, his daughters Fritzi, Gertrude, and Sophie join the war effort as pilots in the WASP program. The Jurdabralinski daughters work hard to make sure the WASP program is permanently picked up by the military. Because of sex discrimination, the military decides to disband the program so the jobs can be given to men and the women can go back to work in culturally accepted jobs or return to their roles as homemakers.

As Sookie’s story entwines with the Jurdabralinski family, the reader pieces together their connection although twists and turns in the story keep them guessing. The story resolves with Sookie’s attendance at a family reunion held at the all-girl filling station in Wisconsin. She returns home to Point Clear, Alabama with a fresh attitude toward family and a new appreciation for her heritage.