25. The Great Gilly Hopkins

Title: The Great Gilly Hopkins
Author: Katherine Paterson
Publisher: Harper & Row Publishers
Copyright Date: 1978
Number of Pages: 148
Reading Level: 11+
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Summary
Galadriel Hopkins is a foster child who has been passed from home to home. She’s become tough and prides herself on breaking people. Miss Ellis, her social worker, has finally done it, she’s put Gilly in the worst home ever. There is a blind colored man who lives next door and eats supper with them. Trotter, the foster mother, is big and what Gilly calls a religious fanatic. Finally there is William Earnest who is slow, shy and wimpy. Gilly has a hard time adjusting to places because she believes that one day her mother, Courtney will come and take her away. Gilly writes a letter to her mother exaggerating the conditions she’s living in and asks her to send money for a bus ticket. Gilly steals money from Mr. Randolph, the blind next door neighbor and from Trotter to make the fare. At the bus station however Gilly is found out and Trotter has to come and get her. Gilly starts to make the best of her situation and starts to like W.E., Trotter, and Mr Randolph. One day when everyone but her is sick Gilly’s grandmother shows up to see what Gilly said in the letter was true. She contacts the social worker and Gilly is forced to leave Trotter. Nonnie, the grandma, pays Courtney to come visit them for Christmas and both Nonnie and Gilly are sadly disappointed with her. Gilly calls Trotter from the airport after picking up her mother and says “I love you,” probably for the first time.

Recommendation
The swearing alone makes me recommend this more for high school students who could be mature enough to understand why Gilly says what she does.

Problems/Conflict
Quite a bit of swearing out of that little Gilly Hopkins.

My Reaction
This book made me cry. I am touched by the change in Gilly throughout the book. At first everything seems horrible to her and at the end the situation turned out to be the only one Gilly wanted to be in. This book made me think really hard about the challenges of foster children and how hard it is to be constantly shuffled around. It makes me wonder how many go through their lives never considering one place as home.