Where the Heart Is

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Summary: Love and luck in Oklahoma
Review: Billy Letts has created a cast of characters who win our hearts and lead us into their world as if we belonged there too. Novalee Nation, hard luck teenager with little family support, pregnant and unmarried, escapes her meager existence and heads west with her no-good boyfriend who dumps her at a Walmart in Oklahoma. Spunky and optimistic, Novalee meets her future friends as she waits for him to return to Walmart to pick her up. Sister Husband, a kind and fundamental Christian, becomes asubstitute mother; an Indian boy gives her a small tree which becomes a symbol of life and growth. At first, because she has nowhere to go, Novalee lives in Walmart, shopping by day and "borrowing" things at night! On a visit to the library she meets Forney, the town eccentric, who becomes a true and lasting friend. Without giving away the plot, it is easy to say that Novalee's story is one of remarkable faith and hope in the human race. Outrageously funny, poignant and triumphant, this book is a tribute to just what the human spirit can accomplish when given a chance along with effort and a bit of luck. For a read that will make you laugh, cry and know what happens after the last page, this is a must!.

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Summary: What was a dumb English assignment became...
Review: ... the opportunity to read a truly touching book. Our teacher told us we had to choose a novel from Oprah's book club to read for a presentation due in class. Since all the novels she chooses involve characters who often need a few thousand doses of prozac, I wasn't exactly excited about this assignment. When I saw Where the Heart Is, I decided it sounded at least somewhat happy- it was better than one about a woman being falsely accused of murder. I read it, and I found a treasure of a novel. The story jumps around a bit, skipping over many details. Often times, Letts leaves a scene hanging, only to let the reader know what happened six weeks ago in the next chapter. The style is little difficult to follow at first, but I grew to like it. It really resembles Novalee's (our heroine) lifestyle. Every chapter is a puzzle piece. In the end, the puzzle pieces do not all align perfectly as you expect them to, but then again, Novalee is only 25. She has so much more of her life to live; her puzzle is not yet complete. Ms. Letts brings life to stereotypical characters and wins their way into our hearts. Her message is simple yet profound. The book in itself is a small part of everyone's continuous journey to where the heart is.

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Summary: A Book For All Ages
Review: In this story Novalee Nation discovers what it is like to have a real and loving family. The book starts of with Novalee being left at Wal-Mart by her out-to-get-rich-quick boyfriend. While trying to figure out what to do Novalee runs into a woman who calls herself Sister Husband. After being let down by her own greed mother, Novalee decides to take Sister up on her offer of welcome. From then on Novalee experiences even more of what she was always missing in life. To raising her daughter, helping others, and discovering her love to take pictures Billie Letts' character Novalee and all the others will take you for one of the greatest adventures of your life. I recommend this book for people of all ages. You will laugh and cry all the way through the entire book. Mrs. Letts has done a remarkable job of writing this book. This book was also chosen for Oprah's Book Club. After reading this book I am very sure you will agree with me that it is one of a kind. Since this book is more modern than any of Shakespeare's works you will not have to learn a totally different language to comprehend it. This book is much easier to read than anything Shakespeare could come up with. All will easily understand the themes and social issues involved. Themes of loneliness, trying to fit in, and looking for a place to call home are all themes we can relate to. Many of the social issues we deal with daily are in this book. Like for example teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, sex, and many more we see around us daily.

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Summary: Heart in the Right Place
Review: If you're looking for a fun, quick, enjoyable novel to pass the time, read Where the Heart Is. It's a wonderful book to read curled up on a lazy, rainy day.

Novalee Nation is seventeen and very pregnant at the beginning of the novel. Her boyfriend dumps her at Wal-Mart, which becomes her new home until her baby is born. Throughout the novel, spanning eight years of Novlee's life, she grows from an awkward, insecure teenage mother to a strong, independent woman.

Although it may seem a little bit implausible (even though it's based on real headlines), the story is warm and inviting. The plot moves nicely and has very few (if any) loose ends. The characters, however, are the strong points of the book. They are eccentric, amusing and endearig. By the book's ending, you'll feel as though you've lived in Novalee's neighborhood for the past eight years, laughing and crying with her.

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Summary: Best Book I have read in a LONG time!
Review: I have read 1,000s of books but this one was a real mind blower. I was really amazed at all the things Novalee Nation (main character) does to survive with her child, Americus Nation. He boyfriend dumps her off at a Wal-Mart from the Plymoth with part of the floor missing, to go the bathroom and get a new pair of shoes because her other ones went out the hole in the bottom of the car. Novalee is really supersitious about sevens. While she is at the Wal-Mart she gets up to the register and the lady hands her her change, $7.77. Before Navalee even looked out the window to see, she knew that Willy Jack (b/f) was gone. She lives in the Wal-Mart for awhile. That is where she meets: Sister Husband, Mr. Whitecotton, and Benny Goodluck. Novalee ends up having a baby on the Wal-Mart floor, delieverd by a librarian who happened to be there. She is such an inspiration to young readers. She pulls out of so many bad situations and helps her friend Lexie though MANY rough times. I am amazed at how she did it all. This book is the best book I've read in a long........ time! If you are looking for romance and light adventure along with traumas, this is the book for you. I haven't seen the movie but my mom rented it today and I'm anxious for her to come home!

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Summary: My heart was with this book!
Review: In Billie Letts' novel "Where the Heart Is," she creates a loving and heartwarming story about a young woman trying to establish herself as a positive role model for her daughter and keep up with the fast paced changes life throws in her direction. The novel follows Novalee Nation, a young woman of 17 who gives birth to a baby girl in the most unlikely place: a Wal-Mart store. Knowing no one in the small town of Sequoyah, Oklahoma where she was abandoned by her boyfriend, she is forced to find friends and support from a whole host of characters. There's Sister Thelma Husband, who opens her home to Novalee and helps raise her daughter Americus. Forney, the librarian, who teaches Novalee some of the most important lessons about love and friendship. Lexie, the nurse who befriended Novalee in the hospital after Americus was born, who taught her important lessons about family, and that life can change in a single moment and not to take anything for granted. All of the characters are so well developed and they add something unique to the story that makes it such a great read.

Billie Letts does an excellent job of placing the reader in Sequoyah, mostly because she has lived there before and knows the ways to make a reader feel as though they are experiencing the dry heat of Oklahoma and the tornado that whips through the town, leaving a huge impact on the life of Novalee. It was a very easy read, not a lot of overwhelming detail. Just enough to evoke an image in your mind of the characters and the setting, and to get a solid understanding of the feelings and emotions of the characters.

I really loved the bond between Novalee and Americus, and how the emphasis on family was so important. Novalee was such a strong character and the way she worked hard to provide the best life she could for her daughter was so clear. She had her share of struggles throughout the story, such as losing her job, the loss of someone very close to her, lessons on heartache and love, and facing her fears of becoming an adult while she's still a teenager. Lexie is also a character who learns many lessons about the importance of family after a traumatic event leaves her and her kids with nothing but hope left to get them through life. Lexie was my favorite character, though, as she not only added humorous levels to the book, but also showed great elements of strength and hope.

"Where the Heart Is" is such a strong book and it was very hard to put down. I enjoyed every character and though the situations did get intense at times, the feeling of love and compassion that the characters had for one another shone through establishing the element of hope found in the novel. Billie Letts is a great author who knows how to write a book that will touch your heart and provide you with a real page-turner.

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Summary: Where the Heart Is
Review: Where the Heart Is is a heartfelt story about a girl no more than seventeen who is abandoned at a Wal-Mart in small-town Oklahoma. Soon after being dropped off by her awful boyfriend she meets three people who would change her life forever. Also while in the town she meets a man named Forney, he falls deeply in love with her but she of course has no idea until it is too late. In my opinion this was an excellent book that taught about growing up how friendship is the most invaluable thing out there. I personally loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who needed a pick-me-up.

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Summary: 100 times better than the movie!
Review: I first fell in love with the characters when I saw the movie, but the book is 100 times better. I just couldn't put this book down! Novalee and Forney and Sister Husband are just all such well written characters. I just adore this book! Excellent read! I'd give it more stars if I could.

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Summary: Where the Heart Is
Review: If you're a person who likes to read books about people who have problems, how they get through them, and succeed, then this heart-felt, moving book is for you. Where the Hear Is, is about a seventeen year old girl, who has bad luck with the number seven. Novalee is seven months pregnant and moving to California with her boyfriend. When he abandons her at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma with only $7.77 in her pocket. In this small Southwest town Novalee discovers a group of caring, loving, and helpful people. She meets a Bible-thumping, blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband, who helps her when she has no job, food, money, or a place for her and her baby to live. Novalee meets unique, helpful, young man who comes to love Novalee and her baby very much. In this journey you will find a strong, resourceful young woman that many teens can relate to.
The genre of this book would be realistic fiction.
The people who would be interested in this book are people who like stories with hear and anyone who knows the special gifts to be found in a small town.
I like the syle of the authors writing becuase, it is unique and easy to read.

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Summary: Where the Heart Is
Review: The story begins with Novalee Nation, seventeen, unmarried and pregnant who is left by her boyfriend to scrounge by living in a local Wal-Mart miles from her hometown. After her daughter, Americus, is born (in Wal-Mart), she is able to pull herself together, get a job (in Wal-Mart) and develop meaningful relationships in the new town especially after all the publicity. Through the people she meets, she is able to take the good from each one and with a little bit of luck learns to build a quality life for herself despite all of the strikes against her. She learns the meaning of real love from her friends Forney Hull, Sister Husband and Moses Whitecotton. She is able to give to others especially those in need including Lexie and Willy Jack, the father of Americus. Overall, the story has a meaningful message, but tended to have a long drawn-out and depressing plot. The reader's voice had a much exaggerated Southern accent that was distracting.