Rating: 
Summary: VERY light reading!
Review: This a very sweet book...a little too sweet. In fact, the violent scenes seem oddly out of place. They don't quite fit, like another person wrote those parts of the book. Overall it was very "soap-operaish" , predictable and emotionally manipulative. If you're a fan of Danielle Steele or sappy romance novels you'll like thsi book.
Rating: 
Summary: What a magical book this was!
Review: I picked up this book because of the title -- thinking it would be a warm, comfy book, like roast beef and mashed potatoes are for Sunday dinner; and then I read the book jacket and was hooked. The seventeen-year-old with bad luck at sevens is seven months pregant with $7.77 in change? I had to read it. And it is magical. Much like Alice Hoffman and Ann Hood, Billie Letts takes a slice of life and puts it on the page. The plot often doesn't take twists a reader might desire, or expect -- much like life. And with the extraordinary characterizations Letts embodies her characters, the plot line is all the more poignant. Sometimes plot lines and characters that are a bit less ordinary, a bit more eclectic, are exactly the most appropriate devices an author can employ to impart his or her message to the reader. Letts does it succintly, magically, poignanty, and beautifully. This book *really did* make me "laugh, cry, and wonder why until the very end."
Rating:
Summary: One of the few books I have read more than once.
Review: I found Where the Heart Is a heartwarming, fun, imaginative look into the lives of simple people who made me appreciate the simple things in life. Regardless of how bad life got, Novalee continued to view the world through her "rose colored glasses." I will continue to read this book again and again to lift my spirits and bring joy to my day.
Rating:
Summary: Novalee = new and novel
Review: Letts' chatty, girlfriend-honest style will carry you past an initial dismissal of Novalee Nation as "just another pregnant teen"--a dismissal we are all too often guilty of. Letts starts with Novalee's externals--her swelling feet, her sweat and basic bodily functions--but by the end of the novel, Novalee is all heart and soul. Novalee trusts everyone she meets, a philosophy that brings her some pain, but which also creates for her everything she was not given at birth--a family, a home, and a clear vision of herself. Novalee creates her own life from scratch. She is a literary tabula rosa.
Rating: 
Summary: Rural Diversity
Review: "Where The Heart Is" is a refreshingly lighthearted tale that allows the reader to witness one girl's journeys, both across the country from her childhood home, and through life. The author, Billie Letts, develops characters in a manner that is uncommon in most of today's "pie in the sky" fictional literature. In the example of Novalee Nations, the main character, she unlikely develops as the books heroine, while simultaneously developing as a more well rounded and wise young woman.Other characters develop in similar fashions. Each seems to have their own burden to bear, including recovering from alcoholism, laboring to live above racism, caring for an alcoholic sibling, the restlesness and seeking of adolesence or just struggling with the consequences of making bad decisions. They all benefit from knowing each other. The storyline weaves with as many idiosyncracies as the characters whose lives it intertwines. Within it the heroine is taken from a life of chaos and squalor to a more predicitable life of stability and security. Novalee sees the dreams for her life at the beginning of the book get shattered in one road trip rest stop, only to be replaced with a reality that brings her even more satisfaction. This book is a true Horatio Alger tale for today, that will appeal to many.
Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming, enthralling, tear jerker
Review: Who'd have thought this book could turn out a happy story!? It is about a pregnant, penniless 17 yr. old orphan, abandoned by her ne're do well boyfriend at a Walmart. You'll never regret reading this book. It's simple, down to earth style is one that everyone can relate to and enjoy. The storyline is gripping and you're left rooting for the heroine every inch of the way.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Movie
Review: Save you time and read the book don't watch the movie. This is one of those books that you can read over, and over again. Billie Letts brings out the truly good in people, and gives you something to cheer for, as well as the evil in people to give you someone to loathe.
While the book does handle many complicated, and sensitive issues, unplanned preg., homelessness, violence, it provides hope the entire way.
The character in the book become real, and through it was hard to pick up to some the there speech, Moses after a few pages it all starts making sense.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Light Read but Not Very "Literary."
Review: I picked this book up in, ironically, Wal-Mart because it was on sale. I usually don't go for Mass Market Paperbacks and am a die-hard literature reader. I do love most of the choices that Oprah's picks, but this selection is different from the others. There is a good story woven in the book, but the book in it's entirety is not very "deep."
Anyway, I'm not yet finished; I'm midway, but I wanted to see what everyone else thought...I think I'll enjoy finishing it.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good "light" reading..
Review: I enjoyed reading this book but I agree with the previous reviewer that the novel is predictable..Did you ever wonder how would it be like to live in a department store? This book starts off by answering that question: Novalee Nation, a 17 years old pregnant girl is dumped & deserted by the baby's father when, on their way to California, they stop so she can use the restroom in a Wallmart in a small town. Fortunately for Novalee, the town is filled with wonderful folks who help her out & make this town a home for her & her baby...Novalee is a very likeable protagonist and I thought the author did a good job intertwining other characters life stories with Novalee's. The only character that I thought was a bit underdeveloped was Sister Husband, who was one of my favorites & I would have wanted to know more about. This novel is a perfect choice for a Hollywood movie adaptation, given it's happy ending & not very "deep" plot (but charming nevertheless). Now that I've finished the book I'm looking forward to watching the movie & I suggest that you do either/or both.:)
Rating:
Summary: a lighthearted read
Review: Athough the subject matter of the book is very serious, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty...the style of writing, is rather light. The characters are well developed and believable, especially for the area of Oklahoma that the story takes place in, so it is a serious book with a lighthearted slant to the tone..it would make a great gift.
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