Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

Meet Corrinne. She's living every girl's dream in New York City—shopping sprees at Barneys, open access to the best clubs and parties, and her own horse at the country club. Her perfect life is perfectly on track. At least it was. . . .


When Corrinne's father is laid off, her world suddenly falls apart. Instead of heading to boarding school, she's stripped of her credit cards and shipped off to the boonies of Texas to live with her grandparents. On her own in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the life she's supposed to be living. She doesn't care who she stomps on in the process. But when Corrinne makes an unlikely friend and discovers a total hottie at work, she begins to wonder if her life B.R.—before the recession—was as perfect as it seemed. 



My Thoughts/Review:

I enjoyed this book, but there were a few things that could've been changed with no loss, because Corrinne was a good enough character, but I really wasn't interested in reading about her until halfway through the book, when she stopped be such a brat, and grew a conscience. There were a few things that I found really distracting, though. For one, all of the kids have names like 'Jenny Jo' and 'Kitsy Kidd'. It was kind of demeaning towards country folks. It was kind of a 'you've judged us and made your decision without ever having met us' kind of feeling. I hate those feelings. You'd be surprised how often you get them working for a living.

Another thing was 'Bubby'. That was a boy's name. That is my dog's name. I am not kidding. I could understand Bubba, but not Bubby. Everytime I read that name, I just got this picture of a really dopey looking guy, because my dog is just so cute and dopey. It was awful. So, when I finally got over that entire prejudiced section right there, I started to like the book. Corrinne was growing up, Bubby's name wasn't quite as distracting, and the annoying brat talk was gone. Because the book was so much more enjoyable with out the bratty gossip girl persona. It was also very different than what I was expecting, because look at that cover, I thought it was going to be romantic fluff.

It wasn't. It was definitely a book geared towards growing up, and finally making your way into life. Because Corrinne got a job, learned how to drive a truck, made some friends, and got a crush on one certain guy that wasn't worth it. Then she wised up and got a crush on a boy that was. I really sympathized with Corrinne about filtering her words though, because I automatically say the honest thing, and the thing I'm thinking right then. It's a curse, being able to tell people exactly what you think, without ever thinking about until you've said it. Gets me in heaps of trouble, and I'm not very good at getting out of it.

Some of the scenes in this book were just too cute. Really. Also, redneck people do have tailgate parties, and bale hay. (Hay season is right now! The air smells great, like fresh cut hay!) We go to rodeos. We wear cowboy boots, and jeans most of the time. But where I'm from, we sure ain't got no football team. Our towns just too small. (Twelve graduates this year!) So, all in all, I liked it, but it was flawed for said reasons. Read it on a rainy day.


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Favorite Quote:"Waverly," Tripp says, "your fortune is 'Tough times don't last, tough people do.' Can I eat the cookie?"