The Place I Call Home

             Can you imagine being stranded at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma with no money, place to stay, and expecting a baby? What would you do? This is exactly the kind of trouble Novalee Nation was in. There were some major events that changed everything in her life. But what would happen to Novalee after all of this?

            Taken in by a kind woman named Sister Husband, Novalee and her baby girl lived there now. Novalee created friendships that would last a lifetime. Forney, a librarian, helped Novalee from day one. He became close to her and her new family. Helping out with the baby and housework was done with the love in his heart. Over the years he became close to Novalee and loved her. On Novalee’s birthday one year, Forney cooked up her favorite meal and gave her a colorful bouquet of flowers. He also stayed with her baby when she worked and always had a smile that could cheer up anyone. This shows how much Forney loves Novalee. I predict that at the end of the book Novalee will fall in love with him and realize that all along, her true love was really him. In the book, It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han, Belly, the main character, was out searching for the perfect guy when all along it was really the boy she had grown up with. Sometimes people look too hard to find love.

            Willy Jack, the man who dumped Novalee off at the Walmart had his mind set to be something more important than her at the time. All he intended to do was get rich, get famous, and get out of town. Well, he got out of town alright. And became famous too, but not rich. He couldn’t even afford a quart of milk. He wrote a song called The Beat of a Heart which was based on Novalee’s baby’s heart. On late nights, Willy Jack remembered his last day with Novalee and him feeling for the baby’s heartbeat. One of the lines in the song is "No matter what troubles you have, there's someone in the world who cares." Willy Jack knows in his heart that Novalee still cares for him.  Every once in a while Novalee would think back to her experiences with Willy Jack too. I predict that Willy Jack and Novalee will cross footsteps again at the end of the book. Since Novalee is a photographer I think she will be assigned to take pictures of Will Jack’s concert. Similarly, in the movie Lion King, Simba gets separated from his friend Nala. They meet again in the jungle towards the end of the movie. No matter how much you try to avoid or forget someone, they always seem to come back again.

            Even though Novalee might have gotten off to a rough start, everything turned out for the better. When you are in a situation like that, try to make the best of it and find your way out like she did. The best outcome is what you choose to do.