Is(2000): Where The Heart

The birth of her daughter, whom she names , transforms Novalee from a transient girl into a local celebrity. More importantly, it anchors her to a "chosen family" of eccentric, kind-hearted locals:

A resilient nurse and mother of five who becomes Novalee’s best friend. Where the Heart Is(2000)

In the small town of Sequoyah, Oklahoma, seventeen-year-old finds herself at a crossroads that would terrify anyone. Heavily pregnant and possessing only $5.55 to her name, she is abandoned by her boyfriend, Willie Jack Pickens, at a local Wal-Mart . The birth of her daughter, whom she names

A eccentric woman who takes Novalee in and offers her a real home. Heavily pregnant and possessing only $5

Left with nowhere to go and a superstitious fear of the number five, Novalee secretly takes up residence inside the store. She lives between the aisles by night and blends in with the customers by day, creating a makeshift home out of sheer necessity. This hidden life ends when she goes into labor on the floor of the store during a thunderstorm, rescued by a reclusive, bookish librarian named .

The story culminates in Novalee’s realization that "home" isn't a building or a town, but the people who stand by you when you have nothing. After years of feeling like an outsider, she finally lets go of her fears, repairs the Wal-Mart floor where Americus was born, and chooses a future with Forney. It is a journey of a girl who lost everything at a discount store only to find a wealth of love she never thought possible.