Holiday in Your Heart

Coyly named narrator Anna Lee, alter ego to teenaged country music star Rimes, has spent her life dreaming of the Grand Ole Opry. Now she's poised on the brink of success, but two things occur just before Christmas that force her to reexamine her priorities. First, her grandmother falls gravely ill; then Anna Lee meets a has-been music legend who functions as a sort of Ghost of Country Successes Past, taking Anna Lee on an odyssey of the homeless and never-made-its, educating the heroine on the ephemeral nature of stardom. Historical detail concerning the Opry and the country music scene flesh out the thin tale as Anna Lee learns from the nameless legend that what really matters after the applause inevitably fades is God and family, and that the best presents don't come in a box. Will Anna Lee stay in Nashville to schmooze? Or will she return home to her grandmother's side? Take a guess. Noted for having topped both country and pop charts, sweetly sincere young Rimes isn't likely to crossover into literary fame. (Nov.)