Creative Corner

Reviews

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

Since it won the National Book Award for Children's Literature 20 years ago, "Gilly" has given children a very personal and compassionate look at foster care. Here is a review that Class 5T at the Holland Elementary School in Massachusetts submitted to amazon.com:

Gilly Hopkins is about an angry foster child who has a history of moving through many foster homes. She arrives at Mamie Trotter's house hating her foster mother. During her stay at the Trotter's house, Gilly learns love, self-control and respect for others.

This is what we liked about the book. We became emotionally touched by Gilly's situation. Some of us cried while we read the book. Gilly was an interesting character because she changed from having hostile feelings for others to being a loving person. Some of us thought the author used vivid vocabulary that made Gilly seem real and interesting.

There are a few things we did not like about the book. Some of us thought the ending was sad. Gilly uses a lot of swears and some of us didn't approve of that. There wasn't a lot of action in the story. People who like adventure stories might not like Gilly Hopkins.