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tamsterdam_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Where the Heart Is is a youth novel that provides a protagonist's (in this case, young teen Rachel) experience of her family progression further into poverty while also discovering her sexuality. Like the other reviews have said, this is a great book to introduce those two topics.
The story allows people to understand that going into poverty doesn't always mean you're born into it; it can happen to anyone. Additionally, it helped me look through the perspective of a youth who knows deep down inside that they are gay long before going through any hormonal changes; but wanting to take the time to know for sure. I personally never have read such a perspective, so I am grateful that I was able to read this.
The story allows people to understand that going into poverty doesn't always mean you're born into it; it can happen to anyone. Additionally, it helped me look through the perspective of a youth who knows deep down inside that they are gay long before going through any hormonal changes; but wanting to take the time to know for sure. I personally never have read such a perspective, so I am grateful that I was able to read this.
jengennari's review against another edition
4.0
A heart-full story about Rachel and Ivy (the so real little sister!) as their parents struggle with financial pressures. It's also a story about Rachel acknowledging that she doesn't feel "that way" about Micah, her longtime male friend and her awakening acceptance that she likes girls. Sweet farm and swimming scenes.
kerib's review against another edition
3.0
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In this tender coming of age middle grades read you meet Rachel and Micah, best friends who learn more about the challenges of growing up and the importance of true friendship. It is a sweet story that attempts to embrace that challenges and stresses that come with growing up. I do think it might be a little heavy for sensitive children. The book covers topics such as financial struggles in a family, parents arguing due to stresses, beginning to understand one's sexual identity, and basic peer pressure during teen years.
In this tender coming of age middle grades read you meet Rachel and Micah, best friends who learn more about the challenges of growing up and the importance of true friendship. It is a sweet story that attempts to embrace that challenges and stresses that come with growing up. I do think it might be a little heavy for sensitive children. The book covers topics such as financial struggles in a family, parents arguing due to stresses, beginning to understand one's sexual identity, and basic peer pressure during teen years.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
3.0
Nice middle-grade novel about friendship and family and endings and changes. When 13 year old Rachel learns this will be the last summer living in her childhood home, because her family's financial situation means they will have to move, she has to say goodbye to many of her best memories there. During this summer she's also dealing with a changing relationship with her best friend Micah, whose feelings for her are more than a friend--but she doesn't feel that way about him. In fact, she is maybe starting to feel that way about a girl friend from school, and she's all mixed up about that. There are some comical scenes set on the property across the street where Rachel petsits for a variety of farm animals--to varying degrees of success.
I received a copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
I received a copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
somelatenightreading's review against another edition
4.0
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this from @netgalley. ‘Where the Heart Is’ by Jo Knowles tells the story of 13-year-old Rachel and the ups and downs she faces one summer. The story begins with Rachel getting a new summer job helping take care of animals on the neighbour’s farm. From there we see her struggle with her feelings (or lack thereof) towards her best friend, Micah, and the fact that she doesn’t seem to like any boys. We also see the stress and strain placed on an entire family when they are out through financial difficulties, and the bittersweet outcomes that has.
I enjoyed this book so much. At first it just felt like any other middle grade, but very soon that changed. Despite being only 13, Rachel is very mature for her age, and we see that this is due in part to being a role model for her 8-year-old sister, Ivy. The story is very emotional, very heartfelt, and very true to what life is really like. Life is unfair; there is no knight in shining armour waiting for save you, and even though “things can always be worse” this doesn’t stop you feeling shitty. This book teaches an important lesson, one which it begins to teach right from the very first page: home is where the heart is, home is where family is. And now for some of my favourite quotes!
”Back then, I didn’t know the difference between loving a friend and loving someone for any other reason.”
“I hate the word straight. I bet it makes everyone else feel crooked. Or slanted. Or not perfect.”
“When you learn vocabulary words in school, you memorize the definition. And you have a good idea of what the words mean. But it’s not until you really feel them that you grasp the definition. I’ve known what the word helpless means for a long time. And desperate. But I’ve never felt them. Feeling them is different.”
“‘Whatever happens you will always be my best friend and I will always love you.’”
#netgalley #wheretheheartis #middlegrade #lovereading #bookstagram #ebooks #books
I enjoyed this book so much. At first it just felt like any other middle grade, but very soon that changed. Despite being only 13, Rachel is very mature for her age, and we see that this is due in part to being a role model for her 8-year-old sister, Ivy. The story is very emotional, very heartfelt, and very true to what life is really like. Life is unfair; there is no knight in shining armour waiting for save you, and even though “things can always be worse” this doesn’t stop you feeling shitty. This book teaches an important lesson, one which it begins to teach right from the very first page: home is where the heart is, home is where family is. And now for some of my favourite quotes!
”Back then, I didn’t know the difference between loving a friend and loving someone for any other reason.”
“I hate the word straight. I bet it makes everyone else feel crooked. Or slanted. Or not perfect.”
“When you learn vocabulary words in school, you memorize the definition. And you have a good idea of what the words mean. But it’s not until you really feel them that you grasp the definition. I’ve known what the word helpless means for a long time. And desperate. But I’ve never felt them. Feeling them is different.”
“‘Whatever happens you will always be my best friend and I will always love you.’”
#netgalley #wheretheheartis #middlegrade #lovereading #bookstagram #ebooks #books
somelatenightreading's review against another edition
4.0
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this from @netgalley. ‘Where the Heart Is’ by Jo Knowles tells the story of 13-year-old Rachel and the ups and downs she faces one summer. The story begins with Rachel getting a new summer job helping take care of animals on the neighbour’s farm. From there we see her struggle with her feelings (or lack thereof) towards her best friend, Micah, and the fact that she doesn’t seem to like any boys. We also see the stress and strain placed on an entire family when they are out through financial difficulties, and the bittersweet outcomes that has.
I enjoyed this book so much. At first it just felt like any other middle grade, but very soon that changed. Despite being only 13, Rachel is very mature for her age, and we see that this is due in part to being a role model for her 8-year-old sister, Ivy. The story is very emotional, very heartfelt, and very true to what life is really like. Life is unfair; there is no knight in shining armour waiting for save you, and even though “things can always be worse” this doesn’t stop you feeling shitty. This book teaches an important lesson, one which it begins to teach right from the very first page: home is where the heart is, home is where family is. And now for some of my favourite quotes!
”Back then, I didn’t know the difference between loving a friend and loving someone for any other reason.”
“I hate the word straight. I bet it makes everyone else feel crooked. Or slanted. Or not perfect.”
“When you learn vocabulary words in school, you memorize the definition. And you have a good idea of what the words mean. But it’s not until you really feel them that you grasp the definition. I’ve known what the word helpless means for a long time. And desperate. But I’ve never felt them. Feeling them is different.”
“‘Whatever happens you will always be my best friend and I will always love you.’”
#netgalley #wheretheheartis #middlegrade #lovereading #bookstagram #ebooks #books
I enjoyed this book so much. At first it just felt like any other middle grade, but very soon that changed. Despite being only 13, Rachel is very mature for her age, and we see that this is due in part to being a role model for her 8-year-old sister, Ivy. The story is very emotional, very heartfelt, and very true to what life is really like. Life is unfair; there is no knight in shining armour waiting for save you, and even though “things can always be worse” this doesn’t stop you feeling shitty. This book teaches an important lesson, one which it begins to teach right from the very first page: home is where the heart is, home is where family is. And now for some of my favourite quotes!
”Back then, I didn’t know the difference between loving a friend and loving someone for any other reason.”
“I hate the word straight. I bet it makes everyone else feel crooked. Or slanted. Or not perfect.”
“When you learn vocabulary words in school, you memorize the definition. And you have a good idea of what the words mean. But it’s not until you really feel them that you grasp the definition. I’ve known what the word helpless means for a long time. And desperate. But I’ve never felt them. Feeling them is different.”
“‘Whatever happens you will always be my best friend and I will always love you.’”
#netgalley #wheretheheartis #middlegrade #lovereading #bookstagram #ebooks #books
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
bexcapades's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
This is a middle grade/early teens book about a girl who’s family is in financial difficulty, during the summer before 8th grade. The story focuses on confusion over attraction, the divide between well off & not well off families, farm life & the confusion about what growing up really means.
I think this could be a helpful book to use as a talking point if you have children/pre-teens about honesty, relationships and how they don’t need to know who or if they are attracted to people yet.
There aren’t many light moments though and I feel like the ending, though realistic, was a little depressing.
This is a middle grade/early teens book about a girl who’s family is in financial difficulty, during the summer before 8th grade. The story focuses on confusion over attraction, the divide between well off & not well off families, farm life & the confusion about what growing up really means.
I think this could be a helpful book to use as a talking point if you have children/pre-teens about honesty, relationships and how they don’t need to know who or if they are attracted to people yet.
There aren’t many light moments though and I feel like the ending, though realistic, was a little depressing.
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
It's the first day of summer and Rachel Gartner's 13th birthday. But this year it appears that her family, including younger sister Ivy, 8, have forgotten. Instead of the usual birthday pancakes, there's a welcoming pie in the oven...for the new neighbors just moving in. Later that night, however, Rachel is surprised to see her birthday wasn't forgotten after all, and that her present is an almost new, better-than-the-old-one bicycle, cleaned, repaired and greased by Ivy. Getting a second-hand present is nothing new, but Rachel doesn't mind. Ever since her mother lost her job as a school librarian, money has been super tight, and bills have gone unpaid, including the mortgage on their home, Bittersweet Farm.
Money isn't the only thing on Rachel's mind. Her relationship with best friend Micah Sasaki has been feeling different these days. Micah has let Rachel know that he would like to be more than best friends, but Rachel doesn't feel the same way. In fact, she's not attracted to any boy and is beginning to think she never will be. Needless to say, things are tense between the two friends.
To help out her family financially, Rachel takes a job caring for the new neighbor's animals, - two horses, two sheep, two goats, chickens, a baby steer named Ferdinand, and a pig named Lucy, the only animal being raised "for meat."
The job gives Rachel lots of time to spend with Micah at the beach, almost always taking Ivy along. But when a new girl named Sierra shows up with Sam, a girl from school, and starts to flirt with Micah, Rachel finds herself feeling angry and sad and doesn't understand why. As the summer passes, she and Micah are invited to parties, but Rachel's feelings become more complicated as she sees her classmates having typical boy-girl fun and fooling around together, causing her to feel more and more different and afraid to admit what it can mean.
To add to her stress, Rachel's parents are fighting more than usual until they are all finally forced to face the fact that the bank is going to foreclose on Bittersweet Farm. It means moving into a small apartment, giving up beloved mementoes, and finding new owners for their pony Rainbow, an elderly rescue Rachel was given for her 10th birthday. But there is a bright spot in all of this for Rachel - a budding friendship with Cybil Jackson, and a clearer sense of her sexual identity.
This is a coming of age story that really explores what it is like when a family has serious financial problems after a parent loses a much needed job and the impact it has on the children. It's an area that isn't really dealt with in quite the same way it is in Where the Heart Is. And the family's economic difficulties certainly might lead you to think this is a story about coping and just getting by. Or that it is a story about loss - of a job, a home, a best friend. And it is all these things, but...
I think it is more of a story about change. For one thing, the book begins on Rachel's 13th birthday, a milestone birthday, one of transition from childhood to adolescence. Over the course of the novel, Rachel's relationship with her sister Ivy changes as she becomes more responsible for her when her parents can't be. And her friendship with Micah changes as he explores relationships with other kids, especially girls, and as Rachel begins questioning her sexuality, and her passing acquaintance with Cybil. But not all change is bad. Consider the name of the Gartner home, Bittersweet Farm, named for the wild bittersweet that grows along their property line, and which serves as a well chosen metaphor for Rachel's life, which is, to say the least, bittersweet.
Where the Heart Is is a realistic novel, and though it doesn't have a big, major conflict, dealing with the constant stressors that are thrown at Rachel is enough. And, I suspect many kids will relate to Rachel's situation and take comfort in her growth as a person.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was a EARC received from NetGalley
Money isn't the only thing on Rachel's mind. Her relationship with best friend Micah Sasaki has been feeling different these days. Micah has let Rachel know that he would like to be more than best friends, but Rachel doesn't feel the same way. In fact, she's not attracted to any boy and is beginning to think she never will be. Needless to say, things are tense between the two friends.
To help out her family financially, Rachel takes a job caring for the new neighbor's animals, - two horses, two sheep, two goats, chickens, a baby steer named Ferdinand, and a pig named Lucy, the only animal being raised "for meat."
The job gives Rachel lots of time to spend with Micah at the beach, almost always taking Ivy along. But when a new girl named Sierra shows up with Sam, a girl from school, and starts to flirt with Micah, Rachel finds herself feeling angry and sad and doesn't understand why. As the summer passes, she and Micah are invited to parties, but Rachel's feelings become more complicated as she sees her classmates having typical boy-girl fun and fooling around together, causing her to feel more and more different and afraid to admit what it can mean.
To add to her stress, Rachel's parents are fighting more than usual until they are all finally forced to face the fact that the bank is going to foreclose on Bittersweet Farm. It means moving into a small apartment, giving up beloved mementoes, and finding new owners for their pony Rainbow, an elderly rescue Rachel was given for her 10th birthday. But there is a bright spot in all of this for Rachel - a budding friendship with Cybil Jackson, and a clearer sense of her sexual identity.
This is a coming of age story that really explores what it is like when a family has serious financial problems after a parent loses a much needed job and the impact it has on the children. It's an area that isn't really dealt with in quite the same way it is in Where the Heart Is. And the family's economic difficulties certainly might lead you to think this is a story about coping and just getting by. Or that it is a story about loss - of a job, a home, a best friend. And it is all these things, but...
I think it is more of a story about change. For one thing, the book begins on Rachel's 13th birthday, a milestone birthday, one of transition from childhood to adolescence. Over the course of the novel, Rachel's relationship with her sister Ivy changes as she becomes more responsible for her when her parents can't be. And her friendship with Micah changes as he explores relationships with other kids, especially girls, and as Rachel begins questioning her sexuality, and her passing acquaintance with Cybil. But not all change is bad. Consider the name of the Gartner home, Bittersweet Farm, named for the wild bittersweet that grows along their property line, and which serves as a well chosen metaphor for Rachel's life, which is, to say the least, bittersweet.
Where the Heart Is is a realistic novel, and though it doesn't have a big, major conflict, dealing with the constant stressors that are thrown at Rachel is enough. And, I suspect many kids will relate to Rachel's situation and take comfort in her growth as a person.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was a EARC received from NetGalley
lily0843's review
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5