Where the Heart Is: 05/18/19

Where the Heart Is by Jo Knowles is set over the summer that Rachel turns thirteen. She lives with her family in a farmhouse with a horse and new neighbors who have taken their sledding hill and built their own farm with house, barn, and chicken coop.

Rachel is hired by the new neighbors to watch their animals while they are traveling. She comes to see the animals as her extended family, including the pig which they are raising for meat. It's a middle grade Silver Spoon.

But there are other things going on in the background that soon Rachel and younger sister, Ivy, can't ignore. Their parents are having money trouble. They are falling behind on their mortgage and the bank is threatening to foreclose. This summer will be their last in the farmhouse.

This book from Rachel's point of view doesn't have a happy ending. It's not sad either — just realistic. Sometimes you don't get to save the day. The pig dies. The bank forecloses. And life goes on.

In terms of the road narrative spectrum, this book comes in at a 336633. It's the story of a family (33) trying to save their home (66) and failing. They have to move to a new home which sits across town along a smaller but established road, which for the spectrum, puts it along a Blue Highway (33).

Four stars

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