The Great Gilly Hopkins

Katherine Paterson's Newbery Honor novel, 'The Great Gilly Hopkins,' introduces readers to Gilly, an eleven-year-old foster child with a tough exterior and a sharp mind. Having been in countless foster homes, Gilly is determined to hate her new placement with the eccentric Maime Trotter, her timid foster brother William Ernest, and their blind neighbor Mr. Randolph. Gilly concocts a scheme to get her biological mother, whom she idealizes, to 'rescue' her. However, as her plan unfolds, Gilly begins to realize that the messy, unconventional Trotter home might offer the unconditional love and belonging she's always craved. This book is ideal for children aged 8-12, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the true meaning of family, while also addressing the complexities of the foster care system with sensitivity and humor.

***Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's disliked them all intensely.*** She has a county-wide reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanagable. So when **she's sent to live with the Trotters -- by far the strangest family yet** -- Gilly decides to put her brilliant mind to work. Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come "rescue" her. But the rescue doesn't work out quite the way she planned. **And when the time comes for her to go, the great Gilly Hopkins is left thinking that maybe life with the Trotters wasn't so bad after all...** ***Literary Awards:*** Newbery Medal Nominee (1979), National Book Award for Children's Literature (1979), Jane Addams Children's Book Award Nominee (1979), Massachusetts Children's Book Award (1981), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (1980) Iowa Children's Choice Award (1981), California Young Readers Medal Nominee for Intermediate (1981), William Allen White Children's Book Award (1981), National Book Award Finalist for Children's Books (Paperback) (1980)