Where the Heart Is

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a baby in a Wal-Mart store? Neither did Novalee, but that’s exactly what happened to her.

In Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, seventeen-year-old Novalee Nation and her boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens, head off to California to find fame and fortune for themselves and their future baby. When Novalee loses her only pair of sandals through a hole in the bottom of their car, Willy Jack reluctantly pulls into a Wal-Mart so she can relieve her bladder and buy a new pair of shoes.

While Novalee did manage to find a cheap pair of rubber thongs, her change came out to $7.17. Being terrified of the unlucky number seven, she threw the change back at the cashier and ran into the parking lot to find Willy Jack. He was already long gone.

Abandoned at Wal-Mart, she runs into Sister Husband who mistakes Novalee for someone else. Although Novalee has never met Sister Husband before she was very kind to her by giving her a gift basket and an invitation to her house.

Later, she met the photographer, Moses Whitecotton, on a bench inside the Wal-Mart store. Moses gave Novalee some important advice on the value of names, and he told her to give her baby a good name. He even offered to take her baby’s pictures for free if Novalee came back in the future with her newborn.

A little after seven, Novalee met Benny Goodluck, who offered her his lucky buckeye nut for her to make a wish on. Before leaving, he gave her one of his family’s buckeye trees for free.

After a long day at Wal-Mart and meeting many new people, Novalee realized that the store would be closing soon and she had nowhere to go. Before she knew it, the customers and employees were exiting and the lights were going off. She was left completely alone in the Wal-Mart store in Sequoyah, Oklahoma.

With no other choices, Novalee just decides to actually live in Wal-Mart.

For two months, she ate Wal-Mart food, made herself a bed in the middle of the store, and hid every morning so she wouldn’t be seen by the first shift employees. It wasn’t perfect, but living in Wal-Mart actually worked well enough for her.

During her time in Sequoyah she stopped by at the local library where she met Forney Hull who gave her a book about trees. Novalee spent more time at the library with Forney and even visited Sister Husband at her house.

Novalee knew her baby was coming. She should have planned better for her child, but before she knew it, her water broke in Wal-Mart. After all those baby books she read, the time had come and she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t handle the pain and blacked out.

When Novalee woke up, she was in the hospital with tons of people waiting to see her and her famous Wal-Mart baby. She had been saved, but by who? And now that everyone knew she had lived in Wal-Mart for two months, would she be in trouble? Where was she going to live now?

Where the Heart Is is a down-to-earth, southern comfort novel that is sure to entertain its readers. This book was featured in Oprah’s book club for its wonderful heroine and her remarkable journey. Also turned into a movie, the plot and characters are surprisingly similar. The message in the novel and the movie remain the same and both portray an unforgettable journey with Novalee Nation.