Review: Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

A heartwarming and witty debut novel about a spoiled city girl whose life is turned upside down when her father loses his job and she's shipped to Broken Spoke, Texas. Who knew country-living could melt this snobby ice-queen's heart?

My Review:

Where I Belong is a cute story with family, friendship, and a little romance.  The characters are all well-written and developed, and the setting plays a role in the story as well.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Corrinne is a great character.  At the beginning, she is unlikeable and snobby.  She's upset that she has to move to Broken Spoke from New York City.  She seems to think she's too good for Broken Spoke.  In her head, she's concocting plans to leave Texas and go to the boarding school that she was enrolled at before the recession.  As the story progresses, Corrinne realizes life isn't so bad in Broken Spoke.  She makes new friends there, gets to know her grandparents, and gets involved in the community rodeo.  By the end of the book, she considers it her home.  She is sad to leave when her family decides they can move back to New York.

Corrinne's family has some good characters in it.  Corrinne's mom left Broken Spoke years ago and married Corrinne's dad in New York.  When she goes back there, she rediscovers some of her past.  She remembers being a rodeo queen and barrel racing on a horse.  Corrinne's dad doesn't feature in the book very much since he is working and is not in Texas.  Tripp is a good younger brother.  He just wants Corrinne to notice him and spend time with him.  He thought they would spend more time together in Texas, but that didn't happen at first.  By the end, she spent more time with Tripp.  Corrinne spends time getting to know her Grandpa during their driving lessons in Billie Jean the Second.  Corrinne's Grandma loves to cook, and as Corrinne warms up to her, eventually she warms up to Corrinne as well.
  
All of the other characters are well-developed as well.  Waverly is Corrinne's best friend from New York, and she is sometimes rather insensitive.  Waverly is rude when she comes to visit Texas, and it really opens up Corrinne's and helps her understand how snobby she was when she first arrived.  Kitsy is a great character.  She is Corrinne's new best friend in Broken Spoke.  She is a sweet and peppy Mockingbirdette (cheerleader).  Rider seems like a good guy at first.  He is the musician that Corrinne has a crush on.  It becomes clear that he is only using her to get music contacts.  Bubby is a good, sweet guy.  He likes to tease Corrinne and call her Manhattan, but it is clear that he likes her.

If you like sweet and light contemporary YA, read this book.  I look forward to reading the next story that is in Kitsy's POV.

Katie