The Great Gilly Hopkins

The timeless Newbery Honor Book from bestselling author Katherine Paterson about a wisecracking, ornery, completely unforgettable young heroine. 

Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's hated them all. She has a reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanageable, and that's the way she likes it. So when she's sent to live with the Trotters—by far the strangest family yet—she knows it's only a temporary problem.

Gilly decides to put her sharp mind to work and get out of there fast. She's determined to no longer be a foster kid. Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come rescue her. Unfortunately, the plan doesn't work out quite as she hoped it would...

This classic middle grade novel has moved generations of readers and inspired a major motion picture starring Octavia Spencer, Kathy Bates, Glenn Close, and Danny Glover. The acclaim for the book included the National Book Award, the Christopher Award, and the Jane Addams Award.

The joys and struggles of adoption, told in a real and accessible way, are beautifully expressed in Katherine Paterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins. Don't miss it!

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160 pages

Average rating: 7

4 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

E Clou
May 10, 2023
8/10 stars
I think I probably read this for the first time in 4th grade or so and most of it went over my head. It strikes me as pretty deep and adult now. I definitely think kids should be at least middle school-level maturity at least to understand this story. It's beautifully written and so moving. I'm almost afraid to recommend it to people because what if they don't love it as much as I do?

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