The Great Gilly Hopkins
Author: Katherine Paterson
Publisher: Harper Trophy
Copyright: 1978
Pages: 178
Reading Level: Ages 10 and up
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Rating: ****

Summary:
Gilly is eleven, smart and witty, and more of a handful than any foster home can handle. Transferred once again she is taken to the Trotters. They aren’t your typical family though. With a small house and a bedroom she can hardly turn around in. Not to mention a foster brother that is shy and slower in school. To top it all off Trotter also feeds a blind black man every night. But it is all only minor details to Gilly, because she is determined to get out of there and back to her mother who is beautiful and wants her back…or so she thinks. As time goes on though, Gilly finds that despite how much she wants to hate Trotters, it is unlike any other place she has been. And the day Trotter stands up to CPS after Gilly has ran away is the day Gilly finally let herself really get comfortable. She began to love them, they weren’t just a foster family, they are HER family! Each and every one of them, from her brother who she teaches to fight and stand up for himself, to Trotter and the old man they are part of her and she is part of them. During Thanksgiving week everyone gets very sick, and Gilly jumps in to take care of all of them. But then everything changes with a knock on the door. When Gilly opens it there is an older woman standing there, who says she is her Grandma and has come to get her. When Gilly had first arrived she wrote her Mother a letter and told a bunch of lies about how horrible it was and to please come and get her. And the Mother had sent the Grandma. Just as suddenly as Gilly was given to Trotter she was taken away. The only thing is, Gilly doesn’t want to leave. She loves Trotter and she knows Trotter loves her and she wants to say. The law disagrees though and she goes to live with her grandmother. Her Mother though, is just as much out of her life as she was before though. Finally though, at Christmas her Mother comes to visit, but only for a couple days. That is when Gilly realizes her Mother is not who she has thought. Her Mother didn’t love her, and her Mother was far from beautiful. Running away to the bathroom she makes a phone call to Trotter and says she is coming back, but Trotter tells her she has to say. Because even though Trotter loves Gilly, her grandma needs her now.

Who would benefit from reading this?
This book is great for anyone who had a less than easy childhood. As well as those that didn’t. It shows each of us just what true love looks like. All of us could learn a thing or two from Gilly.

Potential problems/conflicts:
Gilly can have a rough mouth at times and take the Lords name in vain. She is also violent from time to time. I would also say this is a book for older kids, not younger ones to be reading.

My reaction:
A first I didn’t see all the lessons that Gilly teaches us, so I was so so about my feelings on the books. After I finished it though, and looked back I realized just how much we learn from Gilly. I think all of us like her can be hard at times and not want to let others in or have our eyes so focused on something we can’t see things for what they really are. But through Gilly we learn the meaning of true love, and just how important people are. A good book, any book that can make you analyze your own life is a book worth reading. Just like Gilly was surprised at the fact that she fell in love with her new family, you will be surprised at how quickly you fall in love with them too!