Katherine Patterson
Harper Collins, 1987
Pages: 160
Reading level: 9-12
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Gilly Hopkins is an eleven-year-old foster car child, who wants dearly for her mother to come and get her. She has been to a few different homes already, and it has taught her that to survive she needs to be tough. Then she gets sent to Trotters home. Trotter is unlike any foster mother Gilly has ever had. Trotter is fat, religious, and weird. At first Gilly hates her and the boy who live there. Gilly tries to manipulate Trotter, but Trotter isn't someone who can be manipulated, so Gilly bullies the little boy, William Earnest. She writes a letter to her mother, telling her how terrible things are, and to please come save her. In the meantime, Gilly devises a plan to get out on her own. She has her mothers address from a former letter, and decides to steal money and buy a train ticket to her mother. She steals from Trotter and the nice blind neighbor, Mr. Randolf. She is successful at stealing to money, but the man at the ticket office at the train station calls the police, and Gilly goes back with Trotter. Over time, Gilly starts warming up to Trotter and William Earnest. She even starts teaching the boy hoe to defend himself so he won't get teased anymore. When everyone in the house gets sick except Gilly, she becomes nursemaid. She realizes that she loves these people and wants them to get better. While Gilly is nursing everyone back to health, the house gets trashed. With all her taking care of the sick, she doesn't have time to clean, and Trotter is so sick she can't either. It is then that Gilly maternal grandmother shows up. Gilly's mother sent the letter about Gilly to her grandmother. Grandma sees the house in shambles, and is gets Gilly out. Gilly is devastated. It wasn't her grandmother she wanted, it was her mother! And besides, she doesn't want to leave anymore, because Trotter and William Earnest have become her family. But she has no choice, and has to go with Grandma. One day her grandma tells her her mother is coming, and Gilly is very excited. But when she arrives, it is not what Gilly expects. It turns out her mother really doesn't want her. Gilly thinks about running away, but her time with Trotter taught her that she can't just run away from her problems, so she stays with her grandmother.
I would recommend this book to children in the foster care system.
This book could cause children to think that it is "cool" to not try hard in school, and to be disrespectful.
My reaction: I LOVED this book. It is a wonderful book
My rating: *****
No comments:
Post a Comment