The Great Gilly Hopkins

This book is a wonderful story. I truly loved reading it. I also purchased it used but in “good” condition. When the book arrived, I felt it met that description. Overall, I’m very satisfied with my purchase!

This is a very poignant and humorous story about 11-year-old Gilly Hopkins. She's in the foster home program and she's moving to a third home in less than three years. She's not an easy child to tolerate, even though she is highly intelligent. She's not happy to be placed in a home where the woman is a widow and not very intelligent. Also there is a seven-year-old boy who's very weird and lacks confidence, and also a blind man who is at their dinner table every evening after one of the children guide him to their home. Gilly doesn't plan to stay here too long. She seeks security. But there are meaningful values she is about to learn ... also she'll learn the truth of her real mother. This story is written very well, it's an enjoyable read, somewhat sad, but humor prevails. A fast read, you'll enjoy it!

Gilly Hopkins is a girl whose lived her life in the foster system bouncing from house to house never forming attachments. This is how Gilly likes it as she hold on to hope that her mother will come and get her someday. What this sassy little girl wasn’t counting on was falling for a big woman with an even bigger heart who teaches her what it’s like to be part of a family. The Great Gilly Hopkins deals with issues such a racism, prejudice and social services. It may be a children’s book but it deals with real life adult issues.

I am a foster parent and really enjoyed reading life from Gilly’s perspective. This YA book is raw and honest.

Bought this for my niece for Christmas based on a review from a literature instructor. First, the book came loose in a kind of big box. It was not wrapped and received a few dings from shipping. Not exactly Christmas gift material anymore. Anyway, I read it to make sure it would be a good book for my niece. It is a good story overall, but LOTS of swearing on almost every page! Even on the last page as Gilly is having her last conversation with her ex-foster care mom, she says something "Go to hell, Trotter." Taking God's name in vain, and general swearing peppers the whole book. Yes, we live a in real world where there's swearing, but this is not something I would want my niece to read over and over again, especially when's there are sooo many good books out there. Two points for story line as there are some barely redeemable instances in the plot (she stops calling the other foster child a "retard" and starts caring for him). If this is the new age of Newbery, it doesn't suit us. My advice: check it out from the library first and see if it's a type of book you would approve for your child. My bad, I should have done this first. We'll stick to The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, The Little Princess, etc.

The jokes are funny and the ending is sad but really good I am eleven years old but this book is not boring

The book is not an easy read, in that it's hard to like. This was a book I read for my children's literature class, and the general consensus was that the protagonist is not likeable and the ending is unpleasant. It does show some of the harsh realities that some children have to face in life, and that there are consequences for our actions.

This was a really good book. It was for a reading project but I have to post some commentary on this book. Besides, it would be unlikely to. This was a really good book and I would recommend everyone to read it. If you enjoy books it's a good book. The ending was amazing too. No spoilers though. The only problem is the use of adult language. It is used here and there, so if you're OK with your child reading adult language, ok. I won't judge. Overall, everyone and I mean everyone should read this book. 5 STARS.

Galadriel 'Gilly' Hopkins is a foster kid who has been shunted from pillar to post throughout her 11 years, growing up in America in the '70s. She seems like a bit of a mean, angry hoyden, but it's simply a wall she puts up. Deep down she yearns for what we all yearn for - to be loved, and to have a permanent family and not be a foster kid anymore. At first she doesn't think much of her latest foster family - the eccentric, widowed church-goer Maime Trotter (who on earth names their daughter Maime, for heaven's sake?) and timid little waif William Earnest, whom Trotter annoyingly dotes on. The only other person in their lives is blind man and lover of poetry Mr Randolph, who lives next door. The story touches on the subject of race as well - Mr Randolph happens to be black, as does one of the teachers at Gilly's new school, Miss Harris; Gilly is a bit racist at first, which is probably due to her upbringing so far - we don't hear much about her previous foster carers - and the 1970s wasn't that long after segregation had ended. She sees Miss Harris as a fake, so tries to get into her head somehow by making her a provocative card, which she takes surprisingly well and they find they are alike in some ways. The card was intended to be cheeky but not offensive. She has a photograph of her supposedly beautiful biological mother Courtney, and gets the occasional postcard from her; she likes to think that one day her beautiful, loving mother will come and get her, they will be a family and live happily ever after. Gilly is the tough front she puts on; deep down she longs to be beautiful, classy Galadriel, her mother's daughter. She even sets about running away to meet her, and even resorts to stealing, but doesn't get far. And it's her current foster mother Mrs Trotter who comes to pick up the pieces - she is all the mother Gilly needs but she doesn't see it yet. When everybody is ill she writes Courtney a letter, making it sound like she is being treated like a slave by a dysfunctional family, and it's her maternal grandma Nonnie, Courtney's mother, who comes; she turns up unannounced and is shocked by what she thinks she sees. Because Nonnie is a rich person who has a big house, and she didn't even know she had a granddaughter until now. At the same time, Gilly grows to like her current foster family after all and bonds with them; she helps William Ernest with reading and teaches him to stand up for himself, and it shows she does have a heart deep down. She even starts to kind of like the annoying Agnes who follows her around. But then social services decide Gilly has to go and live with her grandma Nonnie, whether she likes it or not, and she's not happy about it. Gilly is the only family Nonnie has now too; her husband and son are both dead, and her daughter buggered off - they were never particularly close, hence why Nonnie only knows of Gilly now. Eventually, when Courtney bothers to turn up, Gilly finally meets her, and Nonnie sees her for the first time in years, at the airport. Unfortunately, Gilly is deeply disappointed; Courtney has let herself go and isn't the beautiful lady Gilly thought she was, inside or out; she turns out to be a cold, uncaring cow, and the loving words she wrote on the postcard were lies - she unfairly gave Gilly false hopes. She's not a very family-orientated person - she calls her own mother Nonnie, and refers to herself as Courtney rather than Mum when writing to Gilly. Gilly realises just how good she had it back at Trotter's; she, William Ernest and Mr Randolph are the family she never had, as they were all along. But Gilly has to live with the consequences of her actions now and make a go of living with her birth grandma; she made her bed so she now has to lie in it. But the heartwarming bit is that she keeps in touch with them all ☺ I imagine this book to be relatable for those who are/have been adopted or in foster care long-term. The message behind it is that love and endurance makes a family, not blood, and hunting down one's birth relatives isn't necessarily a good thing and certainly won't result in a fairytale ending. A sequel would be nice, to see how Gilly/Galadriel fares in her teenage years and early adulthood living with her grandma, if Courtney ever bothers with her and why not, and if she sees her former surrogate family or favourite school contacts again.

I bought this book as a reward for my granddaughter for her good school results. Before giving it to her though I read it. The story is extremely well told. The characters are alive. I have met a number of 'Gillys' in the past and there they were on the page. I'd recommend this book not just for young persons but also for adults who are thinking of becoming foster parents.

Despite it being a young people's book I really enjoyed The Great Gilly Hopkins. I read it to see whether it would suit my grand-daughter age 10. I've not passed it on yet as I am unsure. I think maybe better for a young teenager. Gilly is finding life tough, and the reader walks with her as she faces her challenges. Very well described characters. I will try to read more by Katherine Paterson.

This is a really touching children's story that I think maybe adults can enjoy a bit too. It is very sad at times but also kind of happy in others too. You really feel for the main character. It seems to be typical of Katherine Paterson and if you like Bridge to Terabithia you will like this, and vice versa.

This book was recommended to me by a former teacher as a great example of writing for this age group. I read it with that in mind and found it interesting, entertaining and gripping - even as an adult. I would put it on the list for children and adults alike!