Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth is a 2018 non-fiction book by American journalist Sarah Smarsh.

Growing up in poverty on a Kansas farm, Sarah maintains a mixture of pride in her family's hard work and shame that the U.S. heaps on poor people, having fallen behind in a "supposed meritocracy.

"[3] Smarsh is able to break the cycles of addiction, teen pregnancy, and lack of education that have kept previous generations of her family in poverty, and she gets good grades, eventually going to college and later pursuing a teaching and writing career.

[6] Leah Hampton of the Los Angeles Times states, "The Smarshes give up their bodies to the American Dream, raising your crops and butchering your meat.

"[8] Elizabeth Catte of The Washington Post calls Heartland a "thoughtful, big-hearted tale" that breaks "the national silence that hangs over the lives of the poor.

Her plain language with its unique country lilt is paired with elegant turns of phrase that describe both Smarsh's family's specificities and also broader truths.