8 ratings (3.88 avg)
3 reviews

Starr

Add friend

Starr’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (16)

currently-reading‎ (5)

read‎ (10)

Stats | More…

Starr is Currently Reading

Starr is currently reading

The Great Gilly Hopkins

by Katherine Paterson

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Starr said: " The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson is a fabulous book about a young girl in foster care transferring houses. This young girl has never truly met her mom because of her age when she was placed in foster care. Gilly Hopkins wants to find her The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson is a fabulous book about a young girl in foster care transferring houses. This young girl has never truly met her mom because of her age when she was placed in foster care. Gilly Hopkins wants to find her mom and stop being placed into various homes. She is very strong and likes to be very rude, unthoughtful, and ungrateful. She never had any other thoughts besides ones about herself meeting her mom. Then, we had an unexpected turn. Gilly sticks to the tough girl attitude but was placed with a different type of family, the Trotter family taking place in Maryland. Gilly’s first impression of this house is terrible. It is so dirty, and she thinks the little boy and mother are mentally retarded. Though Mrs. Trotter sounds crazy and her son William seems to have a mental illness, a different character is also introduced. Mr. Randolph, a colored and blind elderly neighbor, teaches Gilly that things could always be worse. This girl has been in foster care her whole life and is focused on being a torture until she finds her mom. However, though she first hated the Trotter household, she begins to realize it’s not so bad after all. Gilly starts to like it there but thinks if she could be with her biological mother, everything would be better. She gets numerous letters from her mom Courtney and up until mid-reading there was never an address. Then, once she realized there was an address, she wanted to travel to California to go find her mother. She was in love with this idea but didn’t know how it was possible, she had no money. In the Trotter house one night during dinner, she was at the bookshelf and found some money but hurried to put it back because Mrs. Trotter was coming. She just thought if only she could grab it and go. Gilly has many struggles with who she is, but inside she knows there is someone kinder and sweeter inside her. This would be the Gilly Hopkins she would show courtney, but not anybody else. Gilly struggles throughout the book with being strong and living in the Trotter house. Gilly ends up stealing money from both Mrs. Trotter and Mr. Randolph and is off to California. On the contrary, she is stopped by police officials but Mrs. Trotter takes her right back. This action shows her that she is unconditionally loved and no longer could she resist the love. She wanted this place to become her new home, but a new character shows up again; Gillys biological grandma, also better known as Courtney's mom. She is so badly fixated on finding her mom and living with her, so she goes to live with her grandma in Virginia after her grandma Nonnie had won a case to take Gilly. To find out her actions and how she responds to these stressful situations, read the great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. This book is absolutely amazing and has so much suspense. I like that the book is relatable, easy to understand, and keeps you on your toes the entire ride. Katherine Paterson has done an amazing job on this book and I think many kids who have been, or have gotten out of foster care would deeply enjoy it. The book shows you such a passion for a biological mother and how kids feel when they are placed with various families and the journey they take and thoughts they have along the way. However, Gilly also shows how to appreciate the littlest things in life, and how to accept things when they aren’t so bad after all. Lastly, I recommend this book because it can also show children what it feels like to be in social services, and being placed in different homes. ...more "

progress:

(page 148 of 148)
— Dec 04, 2017 09:23AM

Jun 03, 2016 08:42AM · see review