This Is Where You Belong

March 21, 2016
Prompted by a move to Blacksburg, Va., for her husband’s job, journalist Warnick set out to discover how a place becomes home, synthesizing research and personal stories into a guide to better appreciating one’s community. She encourages choosing small businesses over big-box retailers, volunteering with local organizations and government, and participating in farmer’s markets and group agricultural programs. Her feel-good stories of community bonding include a Kentucky town rallying to help a beloved grocer save his store and a New York City transplant’s efforts to build an art center in the low-income, hurricane-ravaged upstate N.Y. town of Prattsville. Warnick’s own charming journey finds her sheepishly distributing muffins on “Good Neighbor Day,” learning to embrace Blacksburg’s sports culture, and attempting to become a “regular” at a local restaurant. In the most emotionally affecting chapter, Warnick considers the effects of tragedy on a community, speaking with people displaced by Hurricane Katrina and with Blacksburg residents affected by the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Warnick’s sociological research and anecdotal experiments provide an informative and entertaining read, along with an abundance of practical tools for those settling in after a move or just looking to shake things up in their hometown. Agent: Lisa Grubka, Fletcher & Company.

June 15, 2016

When Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz clicks her heels and says, "There's no place like home," she invokes a longing for a particular place. It is this feeling of "place attachment" that journalist Warnick explores in her debut. The author's mission involves more than just understanding the emotion of connection, it is also about trying to determine if there are actions one can take to create attachment. Categorizing people as "movers" and "stayers," Warnick, a self-confessed "mover," delves into the psychology and sociology behind why people become "stayers," bound to one community. What she discovers is not earth-shattering; behaviors such as volunteering, civic engagement, and buying local all lead to a greater sense of belonging. Warnick experiments with these ideas to craft a plan to help her become more integrated into her most recent home of Blacksburg, VA. The result is two books in one: a well-researched survey of the literature on place attachment, and a how-to guide for readers wanting to fall in love with where they live. VERDICT Warnick shifts between sharing her stories and the results of her extensive research, crafting an enjoyable book for anyone who cherishes their hometown as well as for those who don't and would like to do so.--Michael C. Miller, Austin P.L. & Austin History Ctr., TX

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