Billie Letts

I have been a fan of Billie Letts since Where the Heart Is first came out. (In fact I even picked it for the book club long before Oprah picked it for hers but I don't think my choosing it is what made it a bestseller!) So I was excited to have the chance to hear her speak last night, even though I still don't understand her fascination with WalMart, which shows up once again in this latest novel. This small framed, very thin older woman stepped up to the microphone and had the crowd enthralled! What a wonderful storyteller with a great mix of humor and serious passion for writing and for children. Her newest book, Made In The USA, combines these two as she looks at the way that children are becoming disposable in our society. Although I haven't read the book yet I bet that she manages to have strongly developed characters and is able to combine humor along with a serious message. By the way, she has apologized for the language that some of her characters use. She assured us that those were her character's words, not her own and even though she did her best to control them it didn't always work!