The Great Gilly Hopkins

Title: “The Great Gilly Hopkins”

Author: Katherine Paterson

Genre: Children’s Novel

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Copyright Date: 1998

Pages in Book: 160 pages

Reading Level: 9-12 years

Summary: Gilly Hopkins is a younger girl (about 11 years old) who has gone from foster home to foster home, and because of this, she has many problems connecting with other people, very bitter, cynical and angry at the world. She moves in with her newest foster mother, Maime Trotter, and immediately she dislikes her. Gilly loves to bully the other children in the home, especially a young boy named William. She begins to struggle at confronting her own personal issues such as racism, as well as teaching William how to read, and defend himself against the bullies. One day, Gilly receives a postcard in the mail from her mother, whom she believes that cares for her very much and wants her back. Gilly steals money from Mr. Randolph’s personal stash, and tries to use it to buy a ticket to San Francisco but is soon picked up by the police. It isn’t until after this, that Gilly realizes how great she actually has it. Trotter soon becomes like a mother to her, William like a brother, and Mr. Rudolph like a uncle. Unfortunately, Gilly’s mother receives the letter that was sent to her several weeks before, and Gilly is uprooted and sent to live with her grandmother. Gilly gets so excited because her mother is coming to Virginia to visit, but her dreams are soon crushed as she learns that her mother doesn’t want her, nor does she intend to take her back to San Francisco with her. She calls up Trotter, and sadly learns that she can’t go back home to her. Heartbroken, Gilly sucks it up and decides to make the best of living with her grandmother.  

Reaction: I didn’t really like this book very much. Even though Gilly turned herself around, I feel like she went through a lot for such a young child, but then again, that’s reality. And honestly, I really didn’t like how the story ended. I would have much preferred that Gilly ends up with Trotter, and family that actually loves her.

Recommendation: Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this story to anyone. I didn’t like it very much, and I didn’t think it was one that would leave the children happy and smiling. I felt like it was very depressing, and although this may happen to several children, I don’t think that they need to know about this at such a young age.

Potential Problems/Conflicts: My biggest problem with this story was that Gilly didn’t end up with the family that she loved at the end. She ended up with her grandmother, when she wanted to really be with Trotter, William and Mr. Rudolph.