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Made in the U.S.A.

Billie Letts
Grand Central Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9780446529013
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (6/08)

Fifteen-year-old Lutie McFee lives with her eleven-year-old brother Fate and their dad’s ex-girlfriend Floy Satterfield in the small town of Spearfish, South Dakota.  Their mother died a long time ago and their father has left them, escaped to Las Vegas, and they haven’t heard from him since.  While not the picture perfect life, they still had Floy to take care of them.  That is until they are shopping in Wal-Mart one day and three-hundred-pound Floy falls dead after buying a National Enquirer at the cash register.  When the policeman inquires as to who they have to take care of them Lutie tells them she has an aunt named Julia Roberts who gets off work in a couple of hours.  She also lies to the police officer and tells him that she has her driver’s license as she proceeds to drive Floy’s car home.

Lutie knows what is going to happen if they remain in their home and, rather than becoming wards of the state, they decide to take off in Floy’s car in an attempt to locate their father.   After encountering some scary situations along the way they come to realize their father is not where they think he is and they discover that the world is a rough place especially for naïve and vulnerable children.

The first novel that I had read that was written by Billie Letts was “Where the Heart Is,” which was an Oprah’s Book Club Selection.  Amazingly enough that was ten years ago already!  I remember how much I enjoyed that novel and her writing style.  When I first started reading “Made in the U.S.A” I thought that if this new novel even came close to the quality of ‘Where the Heart Is” then I would enjoy it.  I was definitely not disappointed!  I noticed that there were a lot of similarities between the two books.  The author seems to have a thing for Wal-Mart, small towns, and unique character names.  It is exactly these things that make her novels so readable and enjoyable.

I think there are some parts that are a little unrealistic, like when unlicensed driver Lutie leaves Wal-mart in Floy’s car as the policeman is watching, and proceeds to bump across a divider, jump a curb, squeal to a stop, and then hit a bumper guard.  I think in real life there is no way that a policeman would let her keep driving but I guess since it is fiction after all, these things can happen!  All in all, Billie Letts delivers another moving and unforgettable novel that fans of her past work and readers who have just discovered her are bound to love!             

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