The Great Gilly Hopkins

Author: Katherine Paterson
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright: 1987
Genre: Modern Fiction
Pages: 192
Reading Level: Ages 9 to 12 (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: Gilly is a foster child and she is very, very rude. She uses foul language to get a reaction out of people and is just downright impolite. When Gilly is sent to a new foster home with Maime she is very upset. She believes that someday her real mother will come and get her and that her mother loves her very much and misses her. When she is introduced to Maime's black friend and neighbor who is also blind she is upset and writes a letter to her mom telling her that she is in a terrible place and to come and get her. She discovers that Maime's blind friend has hidden money in his house and makes a scheme to steal it. She tries to use the money to get a ticket to get back to her mom but the cops show up with Maime and she ends up going back home with them and gets in trouble for stealing and trying to run away. However, throughout her time with Maime, she realizes that the woman and the other foster boy that live with them as well as the neighbor really are good people who care about her. When they all get sick, Gilly takes care of them.While they are sick Gilly's grandmother comes to get her and with the conditions being what they are in the house, her grandmother gets the horrible impression that Gilly sent in her letter to her mother, who sent the grandmother to get her. Her grandmother gets custody of her all to late for Gilly who has come to care for her current foster caretakers in return. She goes to live with her grandmother and finally meets her real mom. She is horrified though, when she finds out that her mother really doesn't care about her at all. She tries to call Maime but the woman tells her she needs to stay there for her grandmother. They say I love you, hang up and Gilly goes back to her grandmother.
Who would you recommend this book to? I would recommend this book first and foremost to foster parents and parents with adopted children who may be a little tough to handle. I think it would also be good for those kids.
Potential problems or conflicts: Lots of language. Some rough thematic elements.
My reaction: I enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favorite but it was interesting to read and I think that Paterson did a great job of making this very true to life for this kind of situation.