ClubFaundez's Journal #3

Reading this section of Where The Heart Is gave me mixed feelings. Happiness, sadness, laughter. At the end of chapter 18 we find out Americus has gone missing. After Novalee’s search around town she finally finds her at the church, safe and sound. This scared me a lot because Americus is Novalee’s pride and joy and it clearly showed that Novalee was devastated when she was missing so thankfully she is now found.

Throughout these chapters I could not put the book down. The part that stood out most to me was when the Tornado struck the town. Novalee, sister husband, Forney and the Ortiz family were absolutely terrified. When Novalee and the others go to the cellar to find safety, Sister Husband was left behind but coming soon. Novalee starts to get worried so she goes to check up on her, but the storm was just too strong Novalee rushed back into the cellar. As I kept on going I could not believe what I was reading. After the storm was finished the news was announcing who has been injured from the storm, what has been destroyed and who has even faced death. When they announced the death of sister husband I could not believe it. I was in total shock. Sister husband was one of  my favourite characters in the story. She helped Novalee the most when she needed it. While I was reading this it made me think of how on a regular basis there is always natural disasters happening all around the world. Always reports on the news of  people dying and city’s being torn down. Sister husband’s death reminded me of my grandfathers death a couple of years back. It reminded me of it because Sister husband’s personality reminds me of his, kind, caring, funny. It was a huge surprise when sister husband died, always appreciate the people in your life.

As we follow Willy Jack’s Journey he finally is released from jail. He’s been In there for a bit over a year. He seems to be doing pretty well so far. Pursuing his dreams in becoming famous and being a musician. Plays at different areas, making good money. He comes in contact with a lady who goes by the name of Ruth Meyers who really helps him with his career, but things hit a bumpy road. Always does with Willy Jack.

Novalee always seems to be doing better and better as I keep reading on. She even has a new place for her and Americus. Never thought she would see the day where that would happen but she made it happen with the help of her good friends around town. This makes me happy for her, especially because of how awful her situation was at the beginning. Things can always turn around for you, never give up hope.

ClubBaldo's Journal #4

              Chapters 29 to 38 of this book were so intense and I could not put this book down for the life of me. Things in the book got so crazy that it kept me hooked and left me wanting more and more. These chapters made me cry at times because there were so many horrible and disturbing situations, but at other times it made me smile. Just when I started to lose hope in things ever getting better, the book had other plans to surprise me.

            To be honest, the most insane part in this whole book is when Roger did what he did to Lexie and her kids. Roger was a man she met at a Texaco station, he seemed really nice and seemed to love kids. First he took Lexie on a couple of dates and even spent time with her kids to earn her trust. Then the unthinkable happened. He turned out to be the most repulsive and messed up man ever, which was so surprising to me. I really thought Roger and Lexie were going to last.

             He attempted to rape Pauline and succeeded at raping Brumett. When Lexie attempted to pull Roger off of her son, he beat her, almost to death. I honestly could not breathe when I was reading this part of the book. I've never been so disgusted in my life. He is such a sick man and he deserves to die or to at least be found and put behind bars until he dies. I felt so bad for Brumett because of how traumatized and depressed he was. He didnt even talk to his mom anymore and wanted to be alone all the time. This was probably one of my favourite parts of the book though. I love how the author didn't tell us what happened until a few chapters later. She kept the emotions rolling and left me to wonder what happened. I found that affect very useful because I couldn't stop reading until I knew what happened.

            Another amazing part of this book is when Novalee finally confesses her love to Forney. At first she lied to him and told him she didnt love him. She felt like she was holding him back from moving on with his life and she never thought she was good enough for him. When she told him she did not love him, he left and moved away. She cried every day even at the most random times. Although he still kept in touch with Americus by sending her letters, he never really mentioned anything about Novalee. When Novalee found out that this lie was eating her alive, she told Forney the truth. She confessed her true feelings for him finally. This made me so happy, I had been waiting for this through the whole entire book. They are so perfect together and Forney is such an amazing father figure to Americus.

            In the end of the book Novalee and Forney were happy together and even Lexie ends up getting married to the most wonderful man. His name was Leon. He has kids of his own and loved Lexie's kids.

           This was such an awesome ending. I love how everything worked out just like I wanted it to. When I first started reading this book I thought it would be so bad and it doesn't help that I also hate to read. I really got proved wrong. To be honest, this turned out to be such a good book, maybe even one of my favourites I've ever read.

Novalee See's The Tornado

ClubPatel's Journal #3

Dear Readers,

After reading Where the Heart is, I encountered many MANY feelings and also one social issue. Social class plays another big role in this book. I see that Forney loves Novalee for who she is and not for her status as a mother and being a bit on the poor side. Novalee thinks he doesn’t like her because she isn’t her type meaning, she doesn’t do the rich things he does and have a house and furniture like he does. But what she doesn’t know is that Forney does not care about that and I hope she realizes that very soon!

The mood in chapter 22 was just so adorable and cute I couldn’t stop reading because it was very romantic. Although Novalee is very clueless about the love Forney is trying to send her. I was so into this chapter because towards the end Forney was about to confess his love for her. By the context and scenario you could just tell he was about to do it. It did not work out… And after reading half the book I was getting really really bored, just because some chapters were about Willy Jack. His character is rude and pointless, so I didn’t really care for him. I’m also really disappointed that he is getting a record deal and a shot at being famous.

The part when the tornado hit Novalee’s neighborhood got me at the edge of my seat because Sister Husband was still in the house!! I was honestly talking to myself when Sister didn’t go with Novalee. I was saying things like “OMG WHYY!! GO WITH NOVALEE, DON’T STAY BEHIND!!” It was just a real intense moment. After this disaster, I honestly cried because Henry and Leona had died in each other’s arm in a closet… and also Sister was in some serious condition! She died and left everything to Novalee, the sweetest thing in the book, so far. Speaking of people who had died, Novalee’s boss at Wal-Mart, Mr. Sam Walton had also passed away, and that was very shocking.

It was the cutest and funniest thing ever when Americus was talking on the phone and had said “Well Polly, you have to go on a diet ‘cause your titties are too big.” I had to show my family and friends this phrase, because it was just too funny.

This time the ending was not much of a cliff hanger but it was enough to keep you hanging on when Novalee is going to confess her love. (Which we ALL know is Forney) I think it is very obvious! The ending of the book is very near but wait for the next journal on Monday, (don’t worry I won’t forget.)

-          Page 232 the word clout (http://dictionary.reference.com/)

a blow, especially with the hand; cuff: The bully gave him a painful clout on the head.

ClubTucker's Journal #3

In the third part of “Where the Heart Is”, there is a lot of action. There's a kidnapping, a tornado, and several deaths. Throughout all of these events, Novalee's strength is being tested. She tries to stay strong for Americus and the others surrounding her, although at times she just wants to break down. Throughout these chapters, I’ve really admired how Novalee put aside her own feelings of grief and took care of others and took over a role of bringing people together which was lacking after Sister Husband's death. I've also enjoyed how Novalee has been breaking out of her comfort zone a little bit and pursuing things that interest her, like photography. I believe that it is good for Novalee to have time to herself and to have hobbies. At the beginning of the novel, Novalee would often mention things she dreamed of one day having or doing, yet she depended on other people to get her there (for example, Willy Jack) instead of pursuing these goals herself. Now, Novalee tries new things on her own and even takes risks (like entering the photography competition). I predict that in the upcoming chapters Novalee and Forney will finally confess their feelings for each other. I predict that Americus and Willy Jack will meet for the first time. I also predict that Novalee will go to school for photography and that Willy Jack will get over confident and end up ruining any chance he has at a music career. In the most recent chapters, I've noticed that the author tends to use short sentences filled with important information in a casual way. By doing this, she creates the feeling of overwhelming amounts of information and panic that Novalee and the other characters must be feeling, I find this technique quite effective. I found it really there was a nice contrast when Novalee finally had some good luck when Sister Husband left her money just when she needed it so she was able to stay in town. This was a nice contrast because all throughout the noval Novalee has had bad luck, so I enjoyed seeing something work out for her for once.I am starting to enjoy this book a little bit more as the action picks up and it builds towards it's climax, so I am looking forward to continue reading and seeing what new twists the novel has to offer in part four.

That's The Beat Of A Heart

ClubBaldo's Journal #3

           Il be honest, reading the first few chapters at the start of the book, I didn't think I would like it very much. Now I can hardly put it down. There are so many unexpected twists and turns. Sometimes it has me hanging off the edge of my seat. This book is very unpredictable and half the time you have no idea what will happen next.

          The first thing that I thought was a huge twist was what actually happened to Americus when she went missing. My prediction to what happened to her was way off. I predicted that someone took Americus for the fame but that is not what happened at all. Some kooky couple decided to take her to get her baptised. Americus was left in a manger, lying in the crib of a nativity scene that belonged to a church. To me this was very unexpected because they were just a random couple that came in Sister Husbands house once to use her phone. I never thought anything of them.

          Another thing that was unexpected to me, was the death of Sister Husband. I didn't want to believe that Sister Husband died, she was one of my favourite characters. She died in her mobile home when there was a huge tornado. She was going to grab some soup and head to the cellar for cover but she never made it there. I was honestly in tears reading this part of the novel.

          The last thing that was very unexpected in the book was Sister Husbands will. When Wal-mart was in ruins after the tornado, Novalee was going to have to move away. This was because she had a guaranteed spot at another grocery store, which was far away. But Sister Husband left everything in her will to Novalee. She left her the house, and all her money.  Novalee didn't have to move away after all and she even built her own home. This was the first ever house she lived in that wasn't on wheels. It was just how she pictured and wanted it to be when she first imagined her home with Americus and Willy Jack.

          This book would of been so boring if you could guess everything that was coming next. I love this novel so far because it is not obvious what's going to happen next like most books. This book also touches on very mature topics. Topics I think we should be allowed to read about at this age. Its definitely not your average English book.