By: Katherine Paterson Publisher: HarperTrophy Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: HarperTrophy Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: June 17, 1987 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: June 17, 1987
Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's disliked them all. She has a county-wide reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanageable. So when she's sent to live with the Trotters -- by far the strangest family yet -- Gilly decides to put her sharp mind to work. Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come rescue her.
But the rescue doesn't work out, and the great Gilly Hopkins is left thinking that maybe life with the Trotters wasn't so bad ...
Amazon.com Review: Gilly Hopkins is a determined-to-be-unpleasant 11-year-old foster kid who the reader can't help but like by the end. Gilly has been in the foster system all her life, and she dreams of getting back to her (as she imagines) wonderful mother. (The mother makes these longings worse by writing the occasional letter.) Gilly is all the more determined to leave after she's placed in a new foster home with a "gross guardian and a freaky kid." But she soon learns about illusions--the hard way. This Newbery Honor Book manages to treat a somewhat grim, and definitely grown-up theme with love and humor, making it a terrific read for a young reader who's ready to learn that "happy" and "ending" don't always go together. (Ages 9 to 12) --Richard Farr
Great Great! My 11-year old recommended this book. She had read it at school. So we read it together. We loved it! The story is fascinating and the characters are wonderful. It's the story of an 11 or 12 year-old girl who has become hardened and deceitful because of her experiences as a foster child that is moved around to different families. She's white and has grown up racist ... but this changes ... not in a sudden epiphany (how rare those are!) ... her feelings and behavior change slowly ... organically. I highly recommend this book.
a realistic and entertaining account of one foster kid Gilly Hopkins is a sixth grade foster child on her way to her new home after being abandoned by one and expelled from the other for bad behavior. A very angry little girl, Gilly just thinks of ways to hurt her foster mother, her timid foster brother, and her strict teacher. Gilly dreams of her mother coming to save her and to have a permanent home. The story is a bit dated (Gilly's mom was a flower child and she's quite tame for a foster child), but the message and the portrayal of such a child is still very significant and moving. The characters and situation and ending is very realistic and moving. Wonderful and engaging book. Grade: A
A confused and lonely girl, looking for a home Eleven-year-old Galadriel "Gilly" Hopkins has been shuffled from foster home to foster home since she was three years old. Every time she becomes used to a new family, they find a reason to get rid of her. And so, to protect herself against the hurt, Gilly's decided to be awful to everyone. So what if she doesn't have friends? Gilly's decided that pushing everyone away from the onset is the only way to survive...that, and refuse to give up the idea that the beautiful mother she last saw as a toddler is actually planning to come rescue her any day now.
However, Gilly's newest foster mother, Trotter, isn't so easily pushed away. She's used to difficult children, and she's determined to get through to Gilly -- who, in turn, is repulsed by her large size, by quiet little foster brother William Ernest, and by Mr. Randolph, the elderly blind neighbor who eats with the family each night.
Just when Gilly's finally beginning to accept Trotter's home as her own, fate intervenes, and once again, Gilly's world is turned upside down.
Some readers reject this book, as Gilly is something of a racist, and there is a particular scene where she writes a nasty poem to her sixth-grade teacher, who is black. However, I disagree with banning it -- I feel that Gilly's behavior is on target with her upbringing and inner turmoil. Paterson isn't throwing in racist situations gratuitously, but rather using them as fodder for Gilly's personal development -- and, in fact, showing readers the world as it really is. It's up to Gilly, and everyone, to learn how to deal with prejudices and establish a strong sense of self.
Sometimes it doesnt turn out to be what we want....... ....thats why I like this book. Everything we do isn't always happily ever after sometimes its just BLAH. You get pulled into this book and its hard to put it down. Even though its for young readers I still enjoy this book to this day. I remember my first time reading it and I still had a problem with having to stop.... must finish reading it. Katherine Paterson is a good author. Next stop Bridge to Terabithia.......*grin* Great Book!
An adult review This book follows Gilly a foster child as she gorws up. Through her feeling of hate toward her foster mother and brother to her angst at school. Gilly learns that no matter how much anger, discomfort, and hardships you put people through the ones who really love you aren't going to stop because you did something bad.
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