The Great Gilly Hopkins
By Katherine Paterson
Why this book?
Kids coping with a family in crisis is a theme that resonates with young readers. These middle-grade books can be gut-wrenching, but always hopeful too. The Great Gilly Hopkins is a classic in this genre. There is heartbreak, humor, and lots of quirky characters like Mr. Randolph, the blind, elderly neighbor with an impressive library of books. Eleven-year-old Gilly Hopkins is feisty and irrepressible. She is determined to find a way to reunite with the mother who abandoned her by sabotaging each foster care placement, until she lands in Mrs. Trotter’s house. She finds in Mrs. Trotter an insurmountable force who refuses to let Gilly fail again. Every troubled kid needs a Mrs. Trotter in their lives.
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