Building the Path <Tab/>Some people experience, at one time or another, a point of selfish pity in which they believe they are destined to fail. In the novel Where the Heart Is, Billie Letts introduces Novalee Nation, a 17-year-old pregnant high school dropout who is left to fend for herself and her child in a situation many may have found hopeless. With Sister Husband's help to find Novalee a home, …showed first 75 words of 1091 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1091 total…after someone pushes a person on the ground, but with a helping hand and a desire to continue, getting up is possible. At the beginning of the novel, Novalee is at a point in her life that she has fallen on the ground. With a helping hand from Sister Husband and Forney Hull and a determination to give her child a better life, Novalee proves that only she is in control of her own destiny.