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A review by jenzbookshelf
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
4.0
The main character of this book is Gilly a foster child who has been moved around a lot. She struggles with fears, anger, and feeling alone and unloved. She lies, steals, bullies other kids, is prejudiced, and uses profanity.
She learns to eventually trust and love her foster family before being removed to live with her grandmother. At the end of the book, she finally meets her biological mother only to find that her mother does not love her and is not interested in living with her.
This is a great book for discussion but it may be disturbing for kids reading it on their own. I think it is most appropriate for kids over 13. Kids ages 11-12 may or may not be okay reading it due to its themes, but I think the profanity is inappropriate for children. Kids 10 and under will probably be disturbed by the themes unless they have a troubled past.
My 10 year old was uncomfortable after she read it on her own. She did feel better after we discussed it. I wish that she had read it at an older age and that we had read it together and discussed it throughout.
I personally enjoyed the book and think it is a good book to discuss with youth 13 and older. It's a wonderful book for developing empathy and understanding how anger and fear affect people. It shows the affects that out-of-wedlock pregnancies can have on the children born and how the lack of good parenting affects young children. It also teaches how to love those who are deeply wounded. It's a good jumping off point for discussing how to deal with tough situations (when life isn't fair).
She learns to eventually trust and love her foster family before being removed to live with her grandmother. At the end of the book, she finally meets her biological mother only to find that her mother does not love her and is not interested in living with her.
This is a great book for discussion but it may be disturbing for kids reading it on their own. I think it is most appropriate for kids over 13. Kids ages 11-12 may or may not be okay reading it due to its themes, but I think the profanity is inappropriate for children. Kids 10 and under will probably be disturbed by the themes unless they have a troubled past.
My 10 year old was uncomfortable after she read it on her own. She did feel better after we discussed it. I wish that she had read it at an older age and that we had read it together and discussed it throughout.
I personally enjoyed the book and think it is a good book to discuss with youth 13 and older. It's a wonderful book for developing empathy and understanding how anger and fear affect people. It shows the affects that out-of-wedlock pregnancies can have on the children born and how the lack of good parenting affects young children. It also teaches how to love those who are deeply wounded. It's a good jumping off point for discussing how to deal with tough situations (when life isn't fair).