Rating: 
Summary: Unforgetable Adventure
Review: No one has a perfect life, and this book says it all. From the first sentence I was hooked, and I am not one who enjoys reading. But this book was different! Every chapter made you want to keep reading. I myself pregnant at seventeen and raising a daughter at eightteen could relate a lot to what Novalee was going through. Except I still had the support of my family and I wasn't living in a Wal-Mart. Novalee met a lot of interesting people, that gave her some very good advice. Especially Moses Whitecotton, he told Novalee that "a name is important it keeps track of who you are, get your baby a strong name, a sturdy name, a name that means something." He also says that the name is going to be with her forever even after she dies and even when she's all by herself. Moses also talks about how every year you pass your death date, I never thought about that. Everything in this book makes you think and it has changed my perspective on how I view things. I recommend this book to everyone, even those non-readers! It has a lot of twists and turns and keeps you on the edge the whole time. I also recommend this book to the people who judge teens who have babies. Novalee and myself do a very good job raising them. Maybe this book could help change their minds and not see one bad teen mom and think they are all bad!
Rating: 
Summary: Where the Heart Is
Review: This book quickly draws you in, and I could not put it down until I had finished. I think the characters that the author created were the most special part of the book. As I got to know the true to life characters, I truly began to care about them. The main character, Novalee Nation has everything in her life going wrong for her. She is seven months pregnant and abandoned at Walmart by her boyfriend. She has no place to live and no money, but the deeply caring people of the town help her to create a new life. The book keeps you interested with all the different problems Novalee and her friends face. I strongly suggest this book to anyone looking for a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Where The Heart Is
Review: I thought "Where The Heart Is" was a wonderful book. It wasn't very complex,so it could be enjoyed by many different people, young or old. I have also read Billie Letts' other book, "The Honk and Hollor Opening Soon" which is also very good. Billie Letts is a very talent author, she can reach your heart in so many ways. The names are very odd in the book but you get used to them and you learn to love them by the end of the book. The fact that it takes place in Wal-Mart is pretty cool because its a place where everyone is familiar with and you know exactly where Novalee is in her travels because you've been to the same places. It also takes place in a small town where like CHEERS everyone knows your name. This is a great book and I suggest it to anyone who enjoys reading...men and women alike.
Rating:
Summary: Touching
Review: Few novels are touching, but I must say WHERE THE HEART IS happens to be one of those unique novels. I rarely laugh in books, but I was falling out of my seat in this one. I saw the movie the next day, and it was also pretty good. Novalee is an extremely unique character, and Billie Lettes makes us feel like we're right there feeling her agony and glory.
Rating: 
Summary: Give me a break....
Review: This story was so contrived. The characters were silly. I am from the south and I never ran accross so many trumped up names - Moses Whitecotton and his sad, childless wife Certain Whitecotton. Lexie Coup and her gaggle of snack food children. This was ridiculous.I enjoy an easy read some times but this was beyond that. For example, "Memoirs of a Geisha" was not a book that spent alot of time pondering the deeper questions about the heroines predicament. It was well written, interesting and brought some light to an area of life that I have not experienced. Light reading does not need to be simple, corny or predictable.
Rating:
Summary: love where the heart is
Review: this book was originally given to my daughters to read and i grabbed it first--i did not want to put it down, it made you laugh and it made you cry.
Rating:
Summary: Charming and Special
Review: Like most people, I saw the preveiws to the movie and went, Oh M'Gosh! I've got to read that book! I love Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman so I raced to the book store and demanded a copy. And I'm so glad I did. Novalee Nation is a pregnant seventeen- year old traveling with her so called boyfriend to start a new life in California. When she gets a call to pay her water bill, her boyfriend reluctantly lets her off at a Wal-Mart where he has the inspired idea to leave her there. And so, Novalee learns to live in the Wal-Mart and crosses her fingers that the baby will not come until she has found a place to stay. While hiding out, Novalee meets some of the eccentric townspeople and makes friends. Then the baby comes... little Americus Nation. The rest of the book is basically about Novalee discovering herself and proving her mettle. She is put to some tuff tests, but passes with flying colors. At the end of the book, I almost cried because I wanted to find out more about her quest for herself. This book truely owns my heart. I believe that Ms. Letts is extremely brave to venture out onto such a rocky topic for her book. Teen pregnancy could have drawn a lot of negative attention to her book, but it didn't. In fact, it brought more attention to the problem, and for that many people are grateful. Also, the plot moves along at a clip pace. Not so fast that your head turns from all the info, but it holds you interest. The side plots and struggles of the side characters really tops it off (the characters are extremly three dimensional and feel like family by the end of the book). The only thing I found slightly annoying was the continuation of Willy Jack's story. You hate him for leaving Novalee, and want to drop him. But, Ms. Letts forces him back into the story, and by the end, you grudgingly grow to love him too. All in all, this was a fabulous, although somewhat short, read. I plan to buy an extra copy because my friends are begging to read my origional copy and I can hardly bare to part with it. Trust me, you have to read this book.
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Summary: Can You Feel It? That's Where the Heart Is.
Review: Although you wouldn't always find me reading an Oprah's Book of the Month Club book, I do have to say that this is a touching and warm book. It's not exactly a "girl's" book, although many readers, I can tell, are female. It can even get through to a guy. After 17 year-old a very pregnant Novalee Nation is left in a Wal-Mart parking lot by her boyfriend, she has no place to go. So, she hides out in the store. While she has her sights set on getting out of "Hicksville, USA" she meets some very interesting people. A photographer, an old woman that sells photo-copies of the bible, a yong Native American boy, and a librarian all befriend her. She also meets up with a few "long lost" people. Where the Heart Is also follows the life of Novalee's boyfriend. Willie-Jack is his name, and he's also out for the ride of his life. He goes through some tough times and gets stuck in some hilarious circumstances. Mixing humor and seriousness in one story may be easy, but Billie Letts really put some TLC into this book. This book puts YOUR heart in the exact place!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Read...
Review: Billie Letts has created a very rich and entertaining novel with true to life characters we grow to truly care about. I read "Honk and Holler Opening Soon" right after completeing "Where The Heart Is" and found the same true for both books. Her characters are full of down home charm and character. I highly recommend both novels. I am eagerly anticipating her next submission.
Rating:
Summary: A Sunday School Tract Disguised as a novel
Review: Reads like a 19th century Sunday school pamphlet. The cloyingly and unrealistically good heroine, unmarked by her brutal childhood, gives birth to the perfect child and ends up with a nurturing Prince Charming. But look out if you are one of those who did Novalee wrong or if you sleep with a handsome stranger -- you'll end up disfigured, crippled, or sodomized! The author presents one "lovable" eccentric after another but I was not charmed. I especially disliked it that the African American characters are throwbacks to the old Mammy stereotypes -- their own child is gone to free them to care for the little White princess.
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