The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Great Gilly Hopkins
By; Katherine Paterson
Copyright: 1987
Pages: 160
Reading Level: 9-12

"To be real without any quotation marks. To belong and to possess. To be herself, to be the swan, to be the ugly duckling no longer- Cap O'Rushes, her disguise thrown off- Cinderella with both slippers on her feet- Snow White beyond the dwarfs- Galadriel Hopkins, come into her own."

The Story of The Great Gilly Hopkins, is a story of a foster child. And begins with her moving to a new home, Trotter's Home. Gilly is a child who has had to move a lot and thus she has discovered ways to protect herself both emotionally, and physically. She always finds a way to stay in control, and get what she wants. However its different this time, because Trotter doesn't seem bothered by her messy hair, or unmade bed. This makes her very upset, along with the fact that they have an African American man over for dinner almost every night, and her teacher is also Black. So she writes a letter to her mother pleading with her to take her away, for the horrible place she is living. Gilly receives a postcards from her mother, and takes it as her mothers way of saying how she really wants her to come live with her. So one day when she finds a wad of cash in Mr. Randolph's bookcase, Gilly devises a plan to go back into Mr. Randolph's house and look for more money. So that she could afford a ticket to go to her mother. She finds the money with the help of her friend Agnes, and little William Earnest. She sneaks out one night and goes to the train station where she gets picked up by the police. After Trotter brings her home she makes her return the money, to Mr.Randolph.
Gilly has a change of heart one week, when everyone gets sick other than her. She spends the whole week caring for everyone else, and slowly learns that she actually loves them. However it might be to late. That week a lady knocks on the door, Gilly soon finds out that this is her grandmother, and that she had heard about her letter, and was there to take her away. Gilly no longer even remembers the horrible things she wrote in the letter, and now wants to stay as she suddenly feels like she belongs and is loved. But she can't and her grandmother takes her away. Gilly learns that this is her new home and is where she now has to stay. She makes the best of the situation, but misses Trotter, William Earnest, and Mr.Randolph daily.

Recommend to: Anyone who doesn't feel loved, or fit it. Or really anyone could enjoy and find meaning in this book.
Problems: Gilly uses some language, which I feel is fitting for the book, but not for all age levels.
My Reaction: This was truthfully not my favorite book. I loved the message, however it was hard for me to personally relate. And I like a happier ending.