In Where the Heart Should Be, Sarah Crossan tells a rich and powerful story in verse with a strong and resilient heroine and supporting characters who show kindness, generosity, and courage.
When the story opens, Nell has left school and the poems she loves in order to work at “the big house,” where the English landowner lives. Her wages are critical because the potato crop has begun to fail, and her family must pay their rent and find food enough to survive the winter. While her family and the other Irish residents struggle to find food, Nell meets Johnny, the nephew of the English landowner and they develop a friendship that turns into a deep love.
When Nell’s father joins a raiding party to steal back the oats they paid in rent, the landowner is injured, and Nell’s father is arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. Torn between her love for her father and her love for Johnny, Nell faces difficult choices that will chart her future.
In Nell and Johnny, Crossan has given readers heroes to emulate. They see people, rather than nationality or class, and they will risk their own safety and comfort for those they love. When hard times arrive, they become stronger in the face of opposition, and everyone benefits from their courage and resilience.
I will use this novel in verse in my classes as a companion to our study of the Potato Famine. It is beautifully paced and provides a human connection to a historical tragedy.

This historical-fiction novel in verse is an excellent pick for students in grades 7 - 10. While I'm familiar with Irish history, Crossan brings the potato blight and resulting famine into stark clarity, revealing the impossible choices, grief, and cruelty that the Irish farmers had to face. The stakes are high and all too real for the protagonist Nell and her family and friends throughout the novel as the tension between the farmers and their English landlord escalate. A deeply engaging and quick read, I would especially recommend it to students with a keen sense of justice, those interested in historical romance, and students in a reading slump.

This is the first time that I have read anything by this author. I was not disappointed. Crossan had the ability to move me to emotion through her use of words. The book was an excellent and emotional read that was during one of the worst times in Irish history. I was moved and cried with this one. So be sure and have some tissues handy. The main character, Nell, was so well written so well. Her as a character, and the way the time period caused strains on all those around and especially close to you. It sadly showed the way the British actually didn't care for the Irish as a whole. I would recommend this book to others. It is emotion and gripping from the beginning. Thank you Net Galley ARC!