WHERE I BELONG

Sixteen-year-old Corrinne begins her self-focused narrative with a plea—“If you hate me at first, keep reading.” She’s easy to dislike: Wealthy, shallow and something of a bad girl, she readily evades her lax parents to enjoy lots of underage drinking. After her father loses his job, she and younger brother Tripp are shipped off to live with her salt-of-the-earth grandparents in small-town Texas, where the biggest issues may be whether or not the high-school football team has a winning season and who will attend the adult-ignored beer parties. She falls for musical hunk Rider, while football hunk Bubby falls for her. After reluctantly taking a job at a stable, she explores the reasons her mother turned her back on small-town life. Planning a fund-raising rodeo and enduring a visit from her rich NYC BFF push Corrinne to reexamine her values—all before Thanksgiving. Patience really is required: Rich girl Corrinne is truly obnoxious, but her attitude is amusing, and her evolution, although much too facile, is at least entertaining. (Fiction. 12 & up)