Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

"Where the Heart Is" is a book encompassing friendship, love and family and how each one proves its significance in a person's life. The story begins with the introduction of Novalee Nation, a true believer of superstitions;unlucky sevens to be particular. She's only 17 years old carrying a seven month old baby in her womb heading to California with Willy Jack, her boyfriend (and I thought I'd only see a case of teenage pregnancy on MTV).  Due to someone's inconsideration and selfishness, Novalee finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. Novalee, only having $7.77 in her pocket, faces a seemingly troublesome life that is pending to unfold before her and her baby. Yeah, I know. Seventh month old baby, 17 years old, $7.77, talk about unlucky sevens. Anyway, as she builds a temporary home in a Wal-mart, she encounters these incredible people willing to give her a hand to forget the past, start a new life and learn new things with the person closest to her heart, her baby.

As a book lover, as much as possible I open my horizons to various types of books simply because I get bored when I stick my face on one book genre. Moreover, books of the same genre get predictable for some reason. I used to read books written only by Nicholas Sparks and after finishing a couple of his works, I got a little bit uninterested due to the fact that every book of Sparks that I own seem to revolve around love and its bitter-sweetness. Upon realizing that, I found out that I am man in pursuit of variety in terms of book types.

Going back to Billie Letts' masterpiece, this book has taken me to an emotional roller-coaster ride for it does not tackle only one aspect of a person's life but it also deals with the importance of family and friendship. As embarrassing as it may sound, I should say that this is one of the few books that made me teary-eyed. It's filled with dramatic scenes that get more intense as you go through the motions of every character in the story. Lastly, I like the way the story runs from the very beginning to the end. There's no boring segment in it which some books unfortunately have. If you like to find out the moving, funny and unforgettable journey of the 17 year old Novalee Nation then give this a try.