cover image Where I Belong

Where I Belong

Gwendolyn Heasley, HarperTeen, $8.99 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-197884-5

The recession hits Corrinne Corcoran's wealthy family hard in Heasley's first novel. Corrinne's father loses his job and moves to Dubai to find work, leaving her mother behind to sell their Manhattan apartment while 16-year-old Corrinne and her younger brother, Tripp, head to Broken Spoke, Tex., her mother's long (and best) forgotten hometown. Corrinne is horrified to trade her ritzy, snobby, Gossip Girl–style life for the slow-paced, carbohydrate-rich world of her grandparents. The moral of Heasley's story is one familiar to any number of romantic comedies on page and on screen: namely, that smalltown life is every bit as rewarding as the bustle of the city if given half a chance. This premise results in a predictable story, as Heasley dishes out one smalltown cliché after another in an effort to deliver some tension. Painful manure episodes aside, Heasley also offers plenty of Texas boys, football parties, and a rodeo as city girl turns country girl and learns some lessons about family and good old-fashioned fun. A sweet, by-the-numbers romance with a substantial dose of corny humor. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)