BOOK REVIEW: WHERE I BELONG

Where I Belong

Author: Gwendolyn Heasley

Publisher: HarperTeen,  Feb. 8, 2011

Pages: 304

When I first opened Where I Belong, I expected the usual story of a teenager’s quest to find her place in the world: the new loves, the not fitting in, the betrayals –everything expected of a 16-year-old girl still negotiating the last stages of puberty. Although the novel covers all of these dramas, it definitely does not progress as usual.   The protagonist is Corrine Corcoran, a sharp and sassy 16-year-old New Yorker with a warped sense of reality. Corrine is called to a meeting with her parents while out shopping and informed that her father has been laid off due to a recession that has barely touched her consciousness.

Still in denial, Corrine and her younger brother are shipped off to live with their grandparents in Broken Spoke, Texas, while her father works in Dubai and her mother ties up loose ends. Corrine, feeling as though her life has ended, soon ascertains that the nearest Saks Fifth Avenue is hundreds of miles away and the social highlights of the town are the Sonic, the Chinese buffet (the only sit-down restaurant), and the high-school football games.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the book is the development of the main character. Corrine is selfish, self-absorbed, quick to judge, and a complainer – absolutely everything I hate most in a person. But as the story progresses, her unpleasantness adds to the novel’s impact as this positively infuriating character is transformed by simply a  change of scenery.

As for the plot, I love the irony of how a New York princess – expecting everything for nothing, going on major shopping sprees for charity events, and never wearing the same thing twice – is forced to move to a small town in Texas, where her job at minimum wage is shoveling manure.

Heasley provides a good picture of the protagonist’s personality as well as just how ignorant she can be. Despite how bad Corrine’s situation might seem to her, there are people with far worse lives, though she literally cannot imagine them. Her reactions to certain things, like wealth and jobs, are so ridiculous sometimes that they are almost funny, and yet the way she thinks is not too far off from the worldviews of many people living in America.

Take, for example, the passage where Corrine describes her deprived existence, including her father’s transfer to Dubai and her family’s lost wealth. In response, the boy listening to her, Bubby, says:

“Tough life, Corrine. By the way, Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates. It’s like the Las Vegas of the Middle East – not exactly a war-torn country. Not that I would expect you to know that since you obviously don’t have any idea about anything aside from your Prada shoes and Gucci sunglasses. You only see the small picture, the self-portrait.”

And with that, Bubby releases me. “Go ahead, go. You’ve already made up your mind about this town and its people. No need for you to be here.”

At least we agree on something, I think, before I quickly shove off the edge. I want to add that they aren’t Prada heels, they are Cole Haans, and I am not wearing sunglasses, much less my Gucci pair. I decide not to bother.

As the book progresses, Corinne loses much of her narrow-mindedness and becomes a more relaxed person. She no longer worries about eating too many calories, comes to appreciate her grandparents, and recognizes that the good-looking guy she is lusting after isn’t actually all that great. In all, she is able to enjoy life so much more once she realizes that her preoccupation with style over substance was preventing her from being truly happy.

The book is the perfect chocolate-covered pretzel: crunchy, salty, and sweet at the same time. I’d recommend it to anyone around or above age 12, especially if you are looking for an emotional journey that involves family, friends and hot guys. I do not recommend it if the hot guy is expected to be nice, or if the reader has any issues with snobby rich people from Manhattan or Texas stereotypes. In all, I give this book a 9 out of 10.

Copyright 2011 Y-Press