The Great Gilly Hopkins

Author: Katherine Paterson

Publishing information: (HarperCollins, June 17, 1987, Ages 9-12)

Number of Pages: 178 pages

Genre: Controversial fiction

Summary of Plot:

           

            The book was about an 11 year old girl named Galadriel Hopkins, Gilly for short. She has been living in foster homes since she was very young. Her biological mother was named Courtney Rutherford Hopkins. She had sent a postcard to Gilly saying that she missed her and wanted to be with her. Nevertheless, nothing ever happened for most of the book.

At the start Gilly was being very resistant at wanting to go to her newest home. When she arrived, she did everything possible to get into trouble. Her caregiver, Mrs. Ellis, wanted her to behave for Mrs. Trotter, her new foster mom. Trotter, a large woman with a messy house, had a son named William Earnest, who was also a foster son. He was slightly mentally handicapped and loved to watch sesame Street. Even though she got into a fight on the first day she went to her new school, she learned to accept it. She liked her new teacher, Mrs. Harris.

            For dinner this family always invited their black blind neighbor, named Mr. Randolph. Gilly was very opposed at first, but throughout the book she became closer to him. He had many books in his library. On one occasion she found some money behind the books in his house. She stole it, and came back looking for more. It totaled to be around 40 dollars. She used this money, as well as 100 dollars that she stole from Trotter, to purchase a train ticket. She got caught by the police before she could get on the train. She, under the glaring eye of Trotter, returned the money, and worked it off with Trotter.

            Courtney’s mom visited her one day, while Trotter, W.E, and Mr. Randolph were sick. A while later Gilly was notified that her grandmother was going to have her live with her, at Courtney’s request. Gilly did not want to go. She believed them to be family. However, she went, and kept in touch with the school, Trotter, W. E., and Mr. Randolph.

            Courtney came to visit her-just to visit. That did not turn out well. She continued to live with her grandma. She kept in touch with Trotter and W.E. She did not live with her mom, who she had wanted to. She had a permanent home with her grandma.

My Reaction to the book:

            I found this book informational. Right from the start I found a perspective of Gilly’s interesting. I had never really considered what it would be like to go to a stranger’s house and be told this is where you were going to live. This book was descriptive. It was ethnically accurate. The dialogue was a good representation of the situation at that time. People would speak like that. The plot was interesting.

           

Potential Problems:

            Foster care, violence, foul language, and racial comments might be offensive to some children and their parents.

Recommendations:

            This book is good for those people who deal with foster care. It would connect to them a lot. This book teaches the importance of being friendly to all types of people, and the consequences of stealing. This book is a Newbery Winner. It is not a hard book. The plot flows well. I felt like I was in the action, for a lot of the book, even though I don’t have connections to those types of personal experiences.